NAGAON/SIVASAGAR, Aug 27: A section of fish traders from Nagaon district on Tuesday announced that they would not send their products to Upper Assam for an indefinite period in response to a movement against the ‘Miya’ community there.
Around four quintals of fish are supplied daily from Nagaon to the Upper Assam region comprising nine districts.
A fish traders’ association in Nagaon has decided to suspend the supply of fish to Upper Assam districts for an indefinite period after a section of the people targeted the Miya community over the gang-rape of a minor girl at Dhing in the district.
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“After the Dhing incident, which we all condemn, some groups in the Upper Assam districts have started targeting the Miya people. This is not acceptable and so we decided to stop fish exports to those areas,” Greater Juria Fish Keepers Association president Ibrahim Khan said.
‘Miya’ is originally a pejorative term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam and the non-Bengali speaking people generally identify them as Bangladeshi immigrants. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting this term as a gesture of defiance.
Khan said around four quintals of fish are supplied every day to the Upper Assam.
Though there is no official definition or demarcation of Upper Assam, nine districts on the northern and southern banks of the Brahmaputra river in east Assam are collectively considered as part of the terminology.
For the past many years, Nagao district has been occupying the top position in terms of fish production in the state, according to an Assam government website.
After the Dhing rape incident, several groups in Upper Assam, especially in Sivasagar district, issued an ultimatum to the ‘Miya’ people, asking them to leave within one week.
A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three persons while she was returning home from tuition on her bicycle at Dhing in Nagaon district on August 22 evening.
The arrested prime accused in the case died on August 24 after allegedly escaping from police custody and jumping into a pond when he was being taken handcuffed to a place for a re-creation of the crime scene around 3.30 am.
The fish traders’ body said their members would either supply fish to Guwahati or let it rot instead of sending it to Upper Assam.
“As atrocities on Miya community in upper Assam continue, the decision to stop supplying fishes from Nagaon to Sivasagar, Tinsukia and other districts will remain till the atrocities are stopped,” Khan said.
The association warned that if any individual trader supplies fish to Upper Assam, then “strict action” will be taken against that person for violation of the association’s decision.
Reacting to the decision, several people in Sivasagar said it will not affect them.
“We are not dependent on Miyas. Even if they don’t send fish, we will not have any problem. We will not accept such economic threats for their illegal stay in our areas. They have to leave,” one shopkeeper said. (PTI)
