Day after he gave out a “ratio” of Hindu vs Muslim arrest during last month’s crackdown on child marriages in Assam, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Friday, made another comment which could spark a controversy saying that his state and India on the whole doesn’t need madrassas, instead requires more colleges, schools and universities.

Sarma, while speaking at a rally meant for ‘Shiva Charithe’, at Belgavi’s Shivaji Maharaj Garden in poll-bound Karnataka, said that his government has shut down 600 madrassas and intends to close them all down in Assam.

The BJP chief minister claimed that Bangladeshi migrants who come to Assam for work are a “threat to our civilization and culture”, adding that that India needs engineers and doctors, not madrassas.

Asked to elaborate, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that “new India needs schools, colleges, and universities, not madrassas.”

The Assam chief minister has in the past spoke out about his intentions to shutter madrassas and closely monitor the education imparted at these institutions. Sarma in 2020 enacted a law for facilitating the conversion of state-run madrassas into “regular schools.”

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At the time Sarma had said that Assam police was working with Bengali Muslims who have “a positive attitude towards education, to create a good environment” in the madrassas, adding that science and mathematics will also be taught in the madrassas, and the right to education respected and a database of teachers maintained.

At present, there are nearly 3,000 registered and unregistered madrassas operating in Assam.

On Wednesday, Sarma claimed that his regime ensured that almost an equal number of Hindus and Muslims were arrested in last month’s clampdown to allay fears that the action was not deemed communal in nature.

Speaking during his reply to a discussion on Vote of Thanks on the Governor’s speech in Assam Assembly’s Budget session, Sarma fired shots at the Opposition saying “I got some of our people pickup up too because you all feel bad”, while also revealing that the ratio of arrests of Muslims to Hindus since the February 3 crackdown is 55:45.

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Amid the uproar over the contentious crackdown against child marriages in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Saram, Wednesday, claimed that his regime ensured that almost an equal number of Hindus and Muslims were arrested in last month’s clampdown to fears that the action was not deemed communal in nature.

Speaking during his reply to a discussion on Vote of Thanks on the Governor’s speech in Assam Assembly’s Budget session, Sarma fired shots at the Opposition saying “I got some of our people pickup up too because you all feel bad”, while also revealing that the ratio of arrests of Muslims to Hindus since the February 3 crackdown is 55:45.

The chief minister said that such crackdowns will be repeated every six months to ensure that child marriage is eradicated in the state by 2026.

Taking more shots at the opposition, Sarma said that “some people are weeping for criminals” for not feeling the pain and anguish of 11-year-old girls who are forced into marriages and impregnated.

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CM Sarma claimed that according to the data provided by NFHS 5 (National Family Health Survey), child marriages are mostly prevalent in Muslim-majority districts Dhubri and South Salmara and not in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia (Hindu-majority areas).

Sarma claimed that since opposition puts communal shades on his every decision, he asked the Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police “to pick up a few from there as well.”

He said the NFHS 5 data is corroborated by the NFHS 4 data which was collected during the Congress rule in the state, and like its successor, shows that the highest of underage marriages and childbirths are prevalent in lower Assam districts which has a higher Muslim population.

The Himanta Biswa Sarma led BJP regime’s decision to prosecute child marriages under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO), has sparked a row in the northeastern state.

Opposition parties, led by the Congress have accused Sarma’s government of “terrorizing minorities” by slapping POCSO on those accused of marrying underage girls. Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia had said slapping of POCSO and rape cases on child marriage accused have created disturbances in the society with many old people getting arrested.

In a query by Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, the Sarma informed the assembly that 4,111 incidents of child marriage took place in the state from April 2021 to February 2023.

He said that a total of 4,670 cases have been registered against 7,142 accused, adding that 3,483 persons have been arrested, of which 1,182 are in jail, 2,253 have got bail and notices have been issued to 48 others.

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Two people, including a 13-year-old girl, were killed after being struck by lightning strikes in two different instances in Assam on Wednesday, officials said.

According to a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), a 60-year-old man, identified as Majuruddin, died, after he was struck by lightning in Kharpori village of Assam’s Darrang district.

In a similar incident, 13-year-old Mamata Begum alias Dhunu, was struck by lightning in Guwahati’s Satgaon area in Kamrup (Metro), and died in the incident, the ASDMA report said.

According to reports, the minor girl was playing in her front yard in Bye Lane 5, Progoti Nagar, when she was struck by lightning. The girl’s parents who work as daily wage labourers were out working and the minor was reportedly home alone when the tragic incident took place.

The parents came home soon after and upon discovering what had transpired, rushed their daughter to a hospital where doctors declared her dead-on arrival.

An orange alert has been issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD for Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura from yesterday till March 17. The IMD has forecasted rains and thunderstorm in several places in the northeastern states.

The Regional Metrological Centre in Assam’s Guwahati has also issued a warning in the state, forecasting light to moderate rainfall accompanied by hail and thunderstorms over the next two days.

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In a similar incident, two college students were killed due to lightning strikes today, day after the death of a minor and an elderly man in similar instances in Assam.

According to a local media report by a Guwahati-based news outlet, two students of Abhyapuri College, were struck by lightning in the Sukani area of Abhayapuri town in Assam as thunderstorms lashed different parts of the state on Wednesday.

As per officials the incident took place in the Rasbazar area of Sukani, adding that the deceased have been identified as Deepjyoti Rai and Jintu Kumar Rai—both students at the Abhyapuri College.

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