After Backlash, Minority Leader Apologises For Controversial Remark

Guwahati: Days after Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma threatened to take stern action for his alleged controversial remarks, new Congress entrant Rejaul Karim Sarkar issued a clarification and an apology, saying his statement made during a public speech had been misinterpreted and that his intent was to underline unity and development across Assam.

Mr Sarkar, who recently joined the Congress, clarified that the controversy stemmed from a line in his speech in which he spoke about balanced development across regions.

“I spoke on greater Assam and unity in my speech while joining Congress. There was a sentence where I mentioned ‘Sivasagar’s, development should take place in Dhubri and vice versa’. Many have shown their objections over the statement. However, my aim was to express that we should take Assam forward by unity and development,” he said.

Mr Sarkar stressed that his words were never meant to draw an unfavourable comparison between districts or to suggest altering the character of any region. “It was not my aim to state that Sivasagar must be turned into Dhubri,” he said.

Seeking to explain the context, Mr Sarkar acknowledged that lack of political experience may have contributed to the confusion. “Since I am new to politics and I spoke on a political stage for the first time, I admit there could be a switch of words. My central message was unity and to foster a greater Assam,” he said, conceding that his phrasing may not have conveyed his intent clearly.

The controversy broke out after Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma raised an objection to the remark of minority leader Rejaul Karim Sarkar, who recently stepped down as president of the All Assam Minorities Students’ Union, on Sunday joined Congress.

Mr Sarma, while claiming that Mr Sarkar has allegedly vowed to turn indigenous people-inhabited upper Assam districts into lower Assam’s Dhubri a minority dominated area, alleged that it was also the ploy of Congress party to turn upper Assam districts into lower Assam districts like Dhubri, where, he said, migrant Muslims of Bangladeshi origin have reduced Hindus and ethnic tribes and communities to a minority.

Stating that Mr Sarkar made such derogatory assertion in presence of Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, the chief minister went on saying----“I would have cancelled the joining of minority leader in the party then and there, if he would have made such remark In Front of me.”

The chief minister’s remark has triggered a massive outrage as several civil society groups and local groups of indigenous people have threatened to target Congress if they fail to silence such---to what they called anti-Assam voices.

Issuing an ultimatum, the organisations warned, “If Sarkar is not dropped or boycotted within seven days, Congress will lose not only its hopes of forming the government but also its credibility as an opposition party.”

Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia however said that Mr Sarkar’s statement was poorly articulated and did not reflect the Congress party’s position.