Guwahati: Facing flak for the recent flood that engulfed most parts of the state capital Guwahati, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma blamed the Muslim proprietor of a private university located on a nearby hill for the city’s deluge, using communal diatribes like ‘flood jihad’.
Sarma also implied that the university entrance’s domed structure was reminiscent of ‘Mecca’ and claimed that it posed a threat to Assamese culture and heritage.
The chief minister has been unwavering in pedalling communal vitriol and slurs as well as making unsubstantiated allegations against Mahbubul Hoque, the proprietor and chancellor of the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM), which is accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.
While addressing a public function on Monday, Sarma told the media that his government will approach the National Green Tribunal (NGT) with a complaint against the university for causing floods in the city and damaging its surrounding ecology.
Sarma stressed that he will not provide any form of ‘relief’ to the university and to its Muslim owner.
Leaving no stone unturned, Sarma attacked the university for its emphasis on one religion and not accommodating a traditional Assamese namghar – a Vaishnavite community prayer house – and a church within its fold. He also questioned the university’s secular credentials and its ‘real intentions’.
The USTM’s website describes it as the first private university for science and technology in the northeast. It has also figured among the top 200 universities in the National Institutional Ranking Framework’s list for this year and was the only private university from the northeast to have been ranked in the top 200.
It is located on top of a hill in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district just across the border from Assam.
Sarma, apparently citing newspaper reports from between 2004 and 2014, pointed out that former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi had “stated that the main reason for Guwahati’s artificial floods is Jorabat,” referring to the border junction where the USTM is located.
Gaurav Gogoi, MP and son of Tarun Gogoi, dubbed this as “nonsense” on X.
“Using terms such as ‘flood jihad’ trivialises the gravity of the situation that we as residents of Guwahati must face every time there is flooding in the city,” Bobbeeta Sharma, vice president and senior spokesperson of the Assam Congress, told The Wire.
She added that if Sarma really intends to find a permanent solution to the problem, he and his team must see whether standard operating procedures are being followed within his jurisdiction when trees are felled, drains are maintained and the Bharalu river is dredged.
“Such rhetoric only amuses some people for some time and creates a temporary diversion. Nothing more. We are also aware that in [the vicinity of] Silsako [a marshy waterbody near Guwahati], a lot of houses were razed to the ground and people were evicted, and the logic was that clearing the waterbody would reduce flooding in Guwahati. Did it reduce flooding in Guwahati? Did we get a flood-free Guwahati after the eviction of [people from] Silsako?
“These are the questions the BJP government in Assam has to respond to and take corrective measures for the pain and suffering that the people of Guwahati are facing due to floods.”
Sarma accused the university’s owner of cutting the natural green cover of the hill upon which it is erected and flouting environmental rules and regulations.
He alleged that flood waters from the hill have flowed down and caused floods in the city.
Sarma also implied that the university’s owner deliberately cut a slope of the hill on which the institute is located during its construction process so that floodwaters would flow towards Guwahati.
In an aggressive tone, Sarma, at the same public function on Monday, questioned the university’s “intentions” in causing the floods, terming it as the “baap of jihad” (loosely translating to “epitome of jihad”), and added that the university’s ‘Islamic’ architectural design was highly questionable and that entering the university was like “entering Mecca”.
He even went on to question the university’s “intentions” in imparting education, implying that it was “hell-bent” on destroying the education system as well as Hindu culture and civilisation.
“Is the USTM located in Assam? It may be a pride for the northeast, but not for Assam. In fact, it is a threat. If someone goes to the USTM, it becomes unclear whether they are entering Mecca or Guwahati. We will approach the NGT. I will not provide any relief to the USTM as they have cut down trees and hills to a large extent. It can be said they have destroyed the surrounding hills,” Sarma said.
“Why have they designed the structure like Mecca? They should also build an Assamese namghar and a church as well, besides keeping a Mecca or a Medina. Why should we walk under one archway? We should be able to walk under three archways,” he continued to say.
Not limiting his attack to the USTM, Sarma also put the Congress in his crosshairs.
“Why doesn’t the Congress suggest to the USTM that they should build a gate in the design of the iconic Bordowa gate [the birthplace of Sankardev] and a church. There are three main religions in Assam. What is the Congress wearing on their eyes that they can’t see anymore?
“Jihad is just a minuscule comparison. This is the baap of jihad that is hell-bent in destroying our culture and civilisation and our education system. Just look at the students there. If there was a namghar and a church, I wouldn’t have said anything.”
The Wire spoke to Hoque, the USTM’s chancellor and founder of the Education Research and Development Foundation (ERDF), which is the USTM’s promoter.
When asked about Sarma’s accusation that the USTM contributed towards floods in Guwahati and of his communal remarks, Hoque said: “Whatever Sarma is saying are utterly baseless allegations. Constructions were carried out according to the Meghalaya government’s rules and regulations. We follow the required regulations. All I can say to Sarma is that I will pray for him.”
Sarma had also said that no one from Meghalaya studied at the USTM.
A 2020 ‘Self Study Report for First Cycle of Accreditation’ submitted to the NAAC by the USTM said that “currently 1200+ students are availing free education and scholarships, 80% of them belonging to rural background 57% being girl students & more than 40% are Tribal Students.”
Sarma is no stranger to slurs and attacking the Muslims of Assam. He has regularly attacked Muslims for skewing the ‘demography’ – an unscientific charge.
Recent changes in laws relating to the minimum age of marriage and to Muslim personal law regarding marriage in the state are also meant to target Assam’s largest minority.
