Assam government seals Miya Museum, an eyesore for BJP

The Assam Government has sealed the Miya Museum in Goalpara and arrested Mohor Ali and Abdul Baten.

The Miya Museum, was inaugurated on Sunday and was set up by All Assam Miya Parishad to depict the culture of Bengali speaking Muslims in Assam. The Bengali speaking Muslims are referred to as Miya, with contempt in Assam.

The museum was shut down on the grounds that it was established in a dwelling under the Prime Minister Awas Yogana and that it was meant to be a residential premise, not a museum. A notice of Lakhipur Revenue Circle pasted at the door of the Miya museum said: “As per the direction of the DC, this PMAY-G house of Mohar Ali S/O Somesh Ali of village Dapkarbhita is hereby closed until further order.”

Mohor Ali, who has been arrested is the chief of the All Assam Miya Parishad. The Assam Police has claimed that the two have been arrested in connection with a case filed in Nalbari district over their alleged links with Al Qaeda.

The Bengali speaking Muslims in Assam are accused of being illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, a charge made primarily by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the last Assembly elections in the state, the BJP’s main thrust was to “protect the bhumiputras” (local people) from illegal immigrants. The Bengali speaking Muslims comprise 30 per cent of the population of Assam.

The Bengali speaking Muslims were brought to Assam for commercial farming and to work as labourers on other activities, by the British in the late 1890s.

Leaders of the ruling BJP opposed the museum from the moment it was inaugurated and have asked the government to demolish it. Among those making such a demand is legislator Prasanta Phukan.

Chairperson of the Assam Linguistic Minority Development Board Shiladitya Devi, who is also a former legislator, has sought stronger action against the museum and those responsible for setting it up.

The museum has found support from the Congress. Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, a Congress legislator from Karimganj North constituency said, “There is a need to preserve the culture and identity of the large number of Bengalis who vote in Assam.”

Former Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed had proposed setting up of a “Miya Museum” in Guwahati’s Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government will look into the source of funding for the museum. “Those people who set up the Miya Museum would have to answer the government’s queries, failing which legal action would be initiated against them,” Sarma told the media.

The Chief Minister said that he has been always saying that the emergence of Miya poetry, Miya schools are challenging issues of grave concern.