GUWAHATI: Adding fuel to the fire, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on October 31 said that he will ensure that Congress MLA Sherman Ali will be put behind bars for his comment on `Miya Museum’ the moment BJP comes to power for the second term.
“I pledge to the people of Assam that Sherman Ali will be put in jail and will not be able to come out during his lifetime for his demand to have `Miya Museum’ in Sankardev Kalakeshtra,” Sarma said adding that Ali is trying to create a community of outsiders in the state and trying to legitimize large sections of the population who infiltrated into Assam over last few decades.
Sarma alleged in the guise of Miya culture, a section belonging from the group is trying to manipulate Assamese language.
“I can’t tolerate that someone is playing with my mother tongue. If Miyas have their own language they should promote it. But what they are doing is manipulating Assamese language,” he said.
In the letter to the Director of Museums, written on October 18, Ali stated, “I would like to inform you that one Museum reflecting the culture and heritage of the people living in Char-Chaporis of Assam in the premises of Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, Guwahati was recommended by DRSC on Education, 2020-21, in its 47th Report of Art and Culture (Grant No 27). I would, therefore, like to request you kindly to expedite the process of establishment of the same.”