In Lachit Borphukan's Assam, Muslim population explosion and fanatical plans of Badruddin Ajmal, the new age 'Aurangzeb'

Barely a week after the nation celebrated the 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Borphukan remembering the victory of the Ahom general against the invading Mughal forces of emperor Aurangzeb and consequently protecting the entire South East Asia from the evil designs of Islamic imperialism, Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal’s ugly thinking again portrayed the ills of Muslim fanaticism. While taking potshots at the Assam chief minister’s comments on ’love jihad’ during the course of campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly Election, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) supremo Badruddin Ajmal invited Himanta Biswa Sarma to personally conduct ’love jihad’ and elope with two-three Muslim girls. The MP went on to say that he should invoke his power for the same and the AIUDF would congratulate him with sweets instead of fighting with him. Ajmal’s regressive thought process did not stop at that and he had the audacity to sully the Hindu community by saying that many Hindus do not marry till 40 years of age because they maintain illicit relationships. The Dhubri MP even said that many Hindus can’t procreate healthy offspring after getting married due to parental pressure at 40, unlike Muslims who sit for Nikah at young ages like 18, 20 and 22 and have healthy children. In unsolicited advice, Ajmal also asked the Hindus to marry similarly like the Muslims at a young age. There is no doubt that the AIUDF supremo’s salvo was to score political brownie points in the heat of the Gujarat elections and gain some cheap publicity. However, what he said can’t be ignored as mere electoral rhetoric. Instead it is an eye-opener of the threat that the Hindu community faces from Muslim hardliners. ‘Love jihad’ in Assam When Chief Minister Sarma recently said ’love Jihad is not a concept, it is a reality’ while commenting on the gruesome Shraddha Walker murder case in Delhi he was neither exaggerating nor deviating from the truth. “Love jihad is already there in Assam. It is a part of a greater conspiracy to convert not only Assam but entire India. Be it love jihad, land jihad or political jihad, these are all part of a greater conspiracy. These have been actually continuing from the time of the Mughals. Badruddin Ajmal is nothing but a part of the continuation of the same policy. It is obvious that this whole conspiracy is advocated by Muslim fanatics and their supporters,” said Dr Raktim Patar, an assistant professor of History at Gargaon College in Assam and also a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana, Assam chapter. It needs to be understood that love jihad is not something that happens suddenly. In most cases, the Hindu community is also not above faultlines. “Suppose in an Assamese Hindu village there is a poor family with three young girls. What the opportunity-seeking Muslim male will do is to support them emotionally extensively and at times financially as well. When a family in need is getting support from outside instead of its own community, the Muslim individual will slowly gain more acceptance within the family. The parents often feel indebted to the outside individual. This ultimately ends up in love jihad and getting a Hindu girl to convert is a trophy for any Muslim. More than 80 per cent love jihad incidents are due to financial and emotional blackmails. In case of such incidents, the Muslim community extends solid moral support to the individual as he patiently wins over the girl. This also increases his stature in the Muslim community,” said executive director at VART Consulting (P)Ltd and an expert in Demography/Population Studies and Data Science, Dr Jayanta Bora. Triggering demographic changes to grab power in Assam As per the Assam religion census 2011, Hindus are a majority in Assam state and constitute 61.47 per cent of the Assam population. The Muslim population in Assam is 1.07 crore (34.22 per cent) of the total 3.12 crore population in Assam. Of the 34.22 per cent Muslim population in the northeastern state, 4 per cent are indigenous Assamese Muslims and the rest are mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims. By dint of its population size, the Muslims already play an important role in the electoral process of the state. Muslims have fast become a majority in 11 out of 35 districts in the state: South Salmara (95.2 per cent), Dhubri (79.67 per cent), Goalpara (57.52 per cent), Bongaigaon (50.22 per cent), Barpeta (70.74 per cent), Morigaon (52.56 per cent), Nagaon (55.36 per cent), Darrang (64.34 per cent), Hojai (53.65 per cent), Hailakandi (60.31 per cent) and Karimganj (56.36 per cent). Although not a majority yet, they have a significant presence in the districts of Cachar (37.71 per cent), Nalbari (35.96 per cent), Kokrajhar (28.44 per cent), Chirang (22.66 per cent) and Kamrup (39.66 per cent). Only 4 million people speak Assamese among the Muslims in Assam and 1.25 lakh converse in Urdu but a whopping 10.49 million speak Bengali including the Rangpuri and Sylheti dialects which are not from Assam. “Demographic change is the way in a democratic country to change the system of government. Once you change the system of government, once you are in power, you can legislate laws which will further benefit you. These laws in turn will further boost your agenda. The immediate target for the Muslims with dubious citizenship is to somehow become 50 per cent and sit in power. Soon after the legislation of these laws, the conditions will be favourable for them. They are planning for this kind of system for a long time. So increasing their population rapidly is a high priority for them. They know very well with population explosion only they can create new voters. Only population increase won’t help but this has to be legitimate so that they can get voting rights,” said Patar. “Because of this reason, people like Badruddin Ajmal formed a party. Whether it is the Assembly or the Parliament they want their own people inside the Houses so that they can defend themselves and execute the greater conspiracy,” the History professor said. It was this evil design that led to violence in the state when the updation exercise of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was undertaken in Barpeta district and Chaigaon in Kamrup district as pilot projects in July 2010. The very purpose of the NRC updation was to identify and root out illegal migrants from the state and the intent of the exercise created panic among the illegal population who came to Assam from Bangladesh during the 1971 war with Pakistan. Mass infiltrations into the state through porous borders with Bangladesh have caused an existential crisis for the Assamese culture with a deeply negative impact on the demographics of the region. “This is the main reason that they furiously opposed the NRC. After they failed to prevent the NRC exercise they steadfastly and successfully managed to keep the cut-off date as 24 March 1971 instead of the logical 1951. In fact, 70 per cent of the population migrated between 1947 and 1971. If the NRC cut-off date is shifted to 1951, their whole agenda of soft occupation of land, resources and ultimately governance will be severely crippled. Sadly, this is being supported by some of our people who have failed to understand or chose to ignore the consequences in their myopic aim to win short-term gains. They are demanding that the illegal migrants who entered Assam before 1971 should be legitimised and granted citizenship,” assistant professor Patar said. Last year, Chief Minister Sarma said that the Assam government will incorporate a two-child policy for availing government benefits. Although Assam hasn’t enacted a population control law, in 2017, the state Assembly passed a population and women empowerment policy that barred people with more than two children from securing government jobs and such persons from contesting panchayat and municipal elections. People from the Muslim community with dubious citizenship credentials often cite examples of various tribal communities many of which enjoy exclusive privileges in order to secure similar dividends to fulfil their own agenda. It is a greater conspiracy hatched at the international level since the time of the first Islamic invasion. “In a democracy, if the demography changes you cannot protect your rights. The Hindus and the other indigenous communities after they become minorities won’t have any rights to protect or salvage themselves. It will be similar to living in Islamic countries where the majority community will bring their own laws and push you to the corner. Either you lead a deplorable life or you convert as is happening in Pakistan or Bangladesh at present. Eleven districts in Assam out of 35 are already Muslim majority. This did not happen in a day. This is a long process,” he said. The government is now undertaking delimitation exercise to marginalise the threat. If they continue winning their influence will rise even more. As per trends, in the Assembly constituencies of Dhing, Moirabari and Lahorighat, the rise in the Muslim electorate is shockingly high which is indicative of the rising Islamic population. Conversion to Islam People are not usually attracted to Islam because of the many orthodox and near inhuman norms some facets of the religion have. “It is a purely political agenda because people in general don’t convert to Islam. The community is mostly seen as a repressive community, particularly for women and because of the Shariah laws. However, the indigenous Muslim community in Assam isn’t orthodox and their lifestyle and family norms are quite similar to the other communities of the state,” the History college teacher said. On 5 July this year, the Assam cabinet led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma approved the inclusion of five sub-groups in a list of Indigenous Assamese Muslims in the state. The state Cabinet identified Goriya, Moriya, Jolha, Desh, and Syed sub-groups of Assamese Muslims as indigenous. It is the Bengali-speaking Muslim community from Bangladesh that has a dreadfully fanatical mindset and ambitions to nullify the existence of other communities. They are literally thriving within closed walls in different and numerous pockets of the state. “Once upon a time there were forceful conversions. Be it the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb or Muslim rulers even after him, their main aim was to Islamize. However, since there was stiff resistance in different corners their agenda could not be fulfilled. The people here were part of the Indian civilization and they did not agree to merely dump it. In some areas, it was fulfilled like in East Bengal or in the west. Even the Sufi saints influenced and converted a section of the population to Islam. But attempt to convert people to Islam is a continuous process,” he said. “They promise incentives to lure people to their religion. During the Mughal period, the emperors waived property taxes from those who agree to convert to Islam. They were given promotion and jobs. However, those who refused to convert were severely punished even influential ones. Even temples which worked hard to protect Hinduism were destroyed to lower the morale of the Hindu community and instil fear in their hearts. These were strategies of conversion in the pre-colonial times before the British Raj. Now the conversion is being done in a democratic way where they cannot convert forcefully but they increasingly promote their religion,” Patar said. The silent economic jihad Not only on the political front, jihad is also happening alarmingly at the micro-econimic level. “The economic threat that is looming upon us is huge. Whether we go to a small shop or to any small business centre where the working class is involved we find that their domination is growing by the day not only in Assam but elsewhere in India as well. The latest trend is that they hide their real names. They will pick up some generic Hindu names like Raju and Rajesh without surnames to conduct their businesses. There is a perception that they may be employing that tactic as there is a BJP government in power at the Centre. But the fact is under the guise of these Hindu nomenclatures they are tremendously spreading their footprint in petty businesses,” said Bora. “For instance, if I purchase a car battery from a certain Raju and when I opt for a digital option to pay, the name that pops up is of some Alamuddin which is the real name of the individual. Be it a grocery or a meat shop or a mechanic for that matter it is spreading everywhere and they have quietly started dominating. We need to urgently create awareness among the Hindu community in Assam and other places of what is happening,” Bora said. Too consumed by a hollow ego, an Assamese individual often find it difficult to accept a lifestyle or job below a certain standard. “Unless we get over our ego issues, ingrain a psychological change within ourselves and accept the economic reality, we cannot displace the economically invading community. From a roadside vegetable shop, a Bengali Muslim would be quietly earning in thousands every day but we don’t care to even think about it let alone examine it closely. The craze for the white-collared job should be reined in and instead, an entrepreneurial mindset needs to be developed,” the demography expert said. Is there a way to prevent this population explosion madness in Assam? Even the Supreme Court reaffirmed that forced religious conversion was a “serious issue” and asked the Centre to file a detailed affidavit after collecting information from the state governments on anti-conversion laws. “We need to enact strict population laws and firmly enforce them. The population law should not be limited to jobs but any person who is found to be the father of more than two children should be severely punished. The illegal population which has been detected as per the first NRC continue to live in Assam. They should be immediately deported. In fact, in the current NRC which had many loopholes already 20 lakh illegal population has been detected,” the History college teacher said. “Once the lacunae are fixed and the cut-off date is changed to 1951 from the current 1971 close to a crore (10 million) population will be illegal. This needs to be revisited urgently and concrete steps should be taken. After that they should be deported forthwith as their country of origin is either erstwhile East Pakistan or present-day Bangladesh. If that is successfully achieved massive population control will automatically happen in Assam,” said Patar. Those who become bona fide citizens after the cleansing of the NRC will be under the purview of the population control laws. “If we see the government-aided schools today who are enjoying the incentives of free uniforms, free meals or free education? Whether a father has two children or 20 odd, everyone is getting the privilege. Those who managed to make legal documents by whatever means even get benefits from the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and ration cards. So all taxpayers’ money is being spent on some illegal persons,” the Gargaon College teacher said. There needs to be legislation even a constitutional amendment if needed to bar safeguards provided by Articles 14 and 25 of the Indian Constitution and constitutionally prevent from granting of any government-issued identity from Aadhaar to passports to those people in violation of the population laws. Article 25 (1) of the Indian Constitution states, “Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.” Article 14 of the Indian Constitution states that “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” “It has to be made expressly clear that mere birth in India is no guarantee to its citizenship and facilities granted by the Constitution of India. The law should be framed in such a way that it can withstand the strictest test of the judiciary. At present, the guarantees from the Constitution of India are such that if the parents are legal Indians then no matter the number of children they have all are considered as Indian citizens. The practice of doling out incentives has to be stopped as soon as possible,” Patar said. Lack of community support among Assamese in particular and Hindus in general All for one, one for all – is a saying which most of the Assamese will find it hard to inculcate. To some extent, a good percentage of the larger Hindu community will feel the same. “Unlike the Muslims, there is a significant lack of community support among the Hindus. Suppose in an Assamese village, a family starts a grocery shop. Very soon you will find another family starting another one maybe five households away from the first one. As a result, none of them succeeds. But in a Bengali Muslim village, this won’t happen. They support each other. These are very grassroots-level things but we cannot afford to ignore them if we want to become a potent economic force at a community level. Unless we can down them economically we are going nowhere,” said Bora. “It is also absolutely essential to remove religious branding in businesses for example halal chicken. These things seem outright insignificant but in reality, they exert a tremendous impact. These solutions at the ground level are of utmost necessity. We need to analyse the reasons why doubtful Muslim citizens are making such deep inroads,” he said. Dangerous future for Hindus and other indigenous communities in Assam There is no doubt that the next Census which got delayed due to the pandemic will be a shocker for the people in Assam. Muslim population explosion is a terrifying reality in Assam and none can deny it. “If the NRC is not fixed before the next election and the voter lists are not updated as per the corrected NRC it is going to be all-round disaster. If the illegal population become voters we have very dangerous days ahead of us. In every constituency the illegal Muslims converted into legal ones will become the deciding factor and their favourable candidates will win. This will result in draconian laws against the Hindus and other indigenous communities of Assam. The question is for how long will they remain secured? Our present security is like an embankment with leaks now but once it gives away it will be a massive flood. Either you are washed away or you barely survive,” Patar said. The clock is ticking and Assam has perhaps 20 years at the most to remain — a Hindu Assam. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .