Assam: Assam Chief Minister Biswa Sharma has blamed “Miya Muslim” traders for the rise in prices of vegetables in the state, especially in Guwahati.
Answering the question asked by reporters about the rising vegetable prices, the Chief Minister said, ‘Who has increased the price of vegetables this time, the businessmen who are selling vegetables at higher prices are the Miyas and expressed his Muslim hatred.”
In Assam, the word ‘miya’ is mostly used for Muslims of Bengali origin. Here a large population of Muslims of Bengali origin trade in vegetables and fish.
Earlier, All India United Democratic Front president and Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal had said that Assam is incomplete without the ‘Miyan’ community.
Commenting on Ajmal’s statement, Chief Minister Sharma said that Ajmal has actually insulted the Assamese community by making such statements.
In Guwahati, Miya traders are charging higher prices for vegetables from Assamese, but the prices of vegetables are lower in the village. The Chief Minister said that if Assamese traders were selling vegetables today, they would never have charged higher rates from their fellow Assamese.
The Chief Minister called upon the youth of Assam to come forward and actively participate in these activities.
He promised to personally vacate the market place under the flyover and provide employment opportunities to the Assamese boys. At present, most of the people selling vegetables and fruits under the flyovers of Guwahati are Muslims from the Miyan community.
“We all have seen how bus traffic in Guwahati city slows down during Eid. Crowds are less visible. Because most of the bus and cab drivers are from the Miyan community”, said the Chief Minister.
However, the Assam unit of the Congress has criticized that the Assam government has increased the price of vegetables in the state. Congress leader Gaurav Somani said that the government should realize the seriousness of the situation and take immediate action to provide compensation to the victims.
