Does Assam CM s belligerence over border dispute mark turn from coalition builder to regional bully? scroll.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scroll.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Does Assam CM’s belligerence over border dispute mark turn from coalition builder to regional bully?
Does Assam CM’s belligerence over border dispute mark turn from coalition builder to regional bully?
Himanta Biswa Sarma seems willing to lose his clout in the North East to shore up his reputation in Assam, political observers say. 15 hours ago Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma addressed a press conference in Silchar on July 27, a day after six policemen were killed on the Assam-Mizoram border. | PTI
Five Assam police personnel fell to bullets on July 27 as a festering border dispute with neighbouring Mizoram took a bloody turn. Both states have contesting versions of the day’s events and accuse each other of opening fire first.
In Assam, Congress stitches up a broad alliance. Will it be able to topple the BJP?
The entry of the Bodo People’s Front could give the new coalition some real firepower. Mar 06, 2021 · 09:00 am BPF President Hagrama Mahilary and Assam Congress chief Ripun Bora addressing a joint press conference in Guwahati on February 28, 2021. | PTI
On February 28, with assembly elections less than a month away, the Congress-led alliance in Assam got a boost when the Bodo People’s Front joined it.
Until then, the “mohajut” – as the alliance is called – included the All India United Democratic Front that largely represents the interests of Assam’s Muslims of Bengali origin, three Left parties and a newly formed regional party in addition to the Congress.
A file photo of Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. | Himanta Biswa Sarma/Facebook
On December 14, the Assam government passed a cabinet resolution to disband all state-run madrassas and Sanskrit tols (schools) in their current avatars. While the madrassas will be converted into regular schools, the tols will become centres of ancient studies, the state’s education minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, announced.
The rationale behind the decision, Sarma said, was to “secularise” education. Earlier in the year, Sarma had said the government “cannot allow teaching religious education with public money”.
But critics say that a reading of the fine-print of the government’s decision suggests it is not quite retreating from religious education. On the contrary, its action appeared to be targeted against the madrassas, which are often vilified as centres of Islamic indoctrination.