On February 6, Assam government announced a meeting with representatives of certain Muslim communities to discuss a roadmap for conducting ...
On February 6, Assam government announced a meeting with representatives of certain Muslim communities to discuss a roadmap for conducting a census of “indigenous Muslims” in the state. “We are setting up a development council for indigenous Muslims, so this survey is for that purpose,” said Ranjit Dutta, Assam’s welfare of minorities and development affairs minister. The official ministry memo also used the term “indigenous Muslims” in its subject line.
However, during the meeting held on February 11, it was decided that the word “indigenous” would be dropped. The Assam government now says it will carry out a census to count members of four communities: the Goriya, Moriya, Deshi and Jola Muslims.
In its 2019 budget, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Assam had announced an “indigenous Muslims” development corporation and allocated Rs 100 crore towards “developmental activities” for those defined as indigenous Muslims in Assam. However, after the meeting on Tuesday, the state minorities development board chairman Muminul Aowal said the proposed development corporation will be renamed “Goriya-Moriya-Deshi-Jola Muslim Corporation”.
Despite the new nomenclature, the beneficiaries of the schemes announced for “indigenous Muslims” in the 2019 budget are likely to remain largely the same. Why was the term “indigenous” dropped?
More significantly, what is the politics...
