Assam to become Muslim-majority state by 2041: Himanta

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday claimed that the Muslim population in his state is growing around 30 per cent every 10 years, and they will become the majority by 2041.

Addressing a press conference here, he said Muslims have now become 40 per cent of Assam's population as per "statistical sampling".

"In 2011, 1.4 crore Muslims were there in Assam. By 2041, Assam will become a Muslim-majority state. It's a reality and nobody can stop it," Sarma asserted.

According to the 2011 census, Assam had a total Muslim population of 1.07 crore, making up 34.22 per cent of the total 3.12 crore residents. There were 1.92 crore Hindus in the state, around 61.47 per cent of the total population.

"In every 10 years, the Muslim population rises by 11 lakh in Assam... This is not Himanta Biswa Sarma's data, but Indian census data. These are all published data," the CM said.

Sarma said the population of the Hindu community is rising by around 16 per cent every 10 years.

The Assam government has taken steps to reduce population growth among the Muslim community, he said.

"Many people have helped us, too. If the 'Nijut Moina' scheme succeeds, girls will become doctors and engineers. They will not give birth (to children) then,” the chief minister asserted.

Under this scheme, the Assam government provides monthly stipend of up to Rs 2,500 to girl students from Class 11 to post-graduation for the next five years, aiming to prevent child marriages.

“We will get some results from the steps taken by our government in the last three years, but the size of the problem is enormous," he said.

In a dig at the Congress, Sarma said the most important role to control population rise can be played by the party as the Muslim community "listens to them".

"If Rahul Gandhi (Leader of Opposition) becomes the brand ambassador of population control, it will work very fast. You don't need to get married and give birth to 12 children to become a brand ambassador. You go to a Muslim village today with two names -- Himanta Biswa Sarma or Rahul Gandhi -- everyone will say they will listen to what Rahul Gandhi says,” he said.

"If you consider them as votes and political leaders don't join the population control movement, what can we do? The Muslim political leaders themselves have two children, but they never advice villagers about limiting the number of children to two,” Sarma said.

Sarma also opined that if earlier CMs "were not secular" and had spoken like him since 1971 or 1981 about population explosion, the state would have got positive results.

"If the government had taken steps to educate the Muslim girls and against child marriage, this situation would not have developed. I cannot perform a miracle in just three years. If it (Muslims becoming majority) gets delayed till 2051, we will believe we have done something," he said.

Sarma claimed that when he was the health minister of Assam during the Congress tenure, one lakh male sterilisations took place in 2009.

"Gradually, the programme was stopped. If we can continue the process, we can be successful to a large extent... It is also not like this that all women want to give birth to five-eight children. There are some enabling factors, which help raise the numbers," he said.

Asked if the government's awareness drive regarding family planning has failed, Sarma said nothing has been done in this aspect, as compulsory family planning cannot be imposed in India.

"What awareness will work in Char (riverine islands) areas? If that had worked, the country would have progressed a lot. Therefore, we don't go for any awareness activities in Chars," he said.

The chief minister asserted that because of the rise of Muslim population, people from the community are visible in almost every sphere of life.

"If you travel in app cabs in Guwahati, you will find that nine out of 10 are from one particular religion. You can go to Barpeta and Dhubri, and see the data," he added.