DHEMAJI, Jan 30: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said he has instructed the Education Department to rewrite the history textbooks for high schools.
The CM did not elaborate on why the history books need to be rewritten. However, he questioned the existence of Ahom warrior Bagh Hazarika, who features in school textbooks.
Sarma claimed that Bagh Hazarika never fought any war with Ahom general Lachit Barphukan against the Mughals.
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“There was no Bagh Hazarika with Lachit Barphukan in Saraighat’s battle. It was Mising leader Miri Handique, who fought against the Mughals in Kamrup,” Sarma said at the closing ceremony of the 10th Mising Youth Festival organised by Takam Mising Porin Kebang (All Mising Students’ Union) at Kareng Chapori here.
Ismail Siddique, popularly known as Bagh Hazarika, was a 17th-century Ahom warrior who fought with Ahom general Lachit Borphukan against the Mughals in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671. Hazarika was known to be born in an Assamese Muslim family at Dhekerigaon village near Garhgaon in present-day Sivasagar district.
“We have decided to rewrite the history for high schools, and I have told (Assam Education Minister) Ranoj Pegu about it,” the CM said in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Talking about infiltration, Sarma said the Mising community has played an important role in protecting the Upper Assam lands from encroachments.
“Had the Mising people lived from Dhubri to Sadiya (west to east of Assam), not a single Miya could have entered Assam. We can see that from Golaghat onwards, there is no Miya,” he added.
‘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.
“Our Mising brothers and sisters are very hardworking. They earn their own livelihood. If there were Mising in all districts, not a single Miya could have taken our land,” the CM said.
He lauded the community for its “big role” in protecting Assamese culture and identity.
Sarma announced a Rs 100 crore grant for the Mising Youth Festival and Rs 10 crore for uplifting the ‘Donyi-Polo’ society. (PTI)
