AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on February 4 launched a sharp attack on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his remarks on the term “Miya,” accusing him of showing prejudice and disrespect towards Muslims of Bengali origin in the state.
Speaking to ANI in Adilabad, Owaisi questioned both the language and intent behind Sarma’s comments, saying a chief minister should not make such statements about any community. “The Chief Minister of Assam is of the BJP. Can any Chief Minister say something like this? If there’s a ‘Miya’ driver in an auto-rickshaw and the fare is five rupees, then you give him four rupees? How small are you, the Chief Minister of Assam?” he asked.
Owaisi said that in Assam, the term “Miya” refers to Muslims who were brought by the British 150–200 years ago to cultivate land and work as labourers. “They are citizens of India. They speak Bengali,” he said, asserting that such remarks stigmatise an entire community.
Targeting the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Owaisi alleged a contradiction between the government’s economic rhetoric and its treatment of marginalised communities. “On one hand, you talk about building a developed India, becoming the world’s third-largest economy and a global superpower. On the other, you don’t want to pay one rupee to an auto driver,” he said. “You want to build a house on the moon, but you don’t want to pay one rupee to an auto.”
Owaisi’s comments were in response to Sarma’s statement on January 29, in which the Assam Chief Minister said people who had come from Bangladesh should be referred to as “Miya,” claiming that the term was self-used. “Those who have come from Bangladesh call themselves ‘Miya’. I did not give them that name; it is how they call themselves,” Sarma had said.
During his address, Owaisi also referred to a recent incident in Uttarakhand involving a gym trainer, Deepak Kumar. He alleged that Kumar was targeted after supporting a 70-year-old lawyer who objected to the use of the word “Baba” on a shop’s display board. According to Owaisi, members of the Bajrang Dal demanded the word be removed, and when Deepak objected, he was allegedly assaulted.
However, Kotdwar Assistant Superintendent of Police Chandra Mohan Singh said the situation was under control and police were conducting foot patrols following a dispute between two groups over a shop’s name in Pauri Garhwal district. Police said the incident occurred on January 26 when a group demanded that a shopkeeper change his shop’s name. After he refused, a dispute broke out and protests followed.
FIRs have been registered based on video footage of the incident, and police have urged people not to sensationalise the matter on social media.
