Election in Assam ended peacefully. Muslim voters across Assam have been repeating these lines for years now. And in this election season, the voices had got louder.
The Quint has taken a survey, and finds out how most of the Muslims are shown as Migrants or Default voters having been failed to prove their Identity. Though many are Indian origin.
Almost 34 percent of Assam’s population constitutes Muslims – this means one in three people in Assam today is a Muslim. It has the second highest number of Muslims after Jammu and Kashmir. In nine out of thirty-four districts, Muslims are in the majority. And in almost 35 assembly seats the Muslim vote will decide the winner.
The Muslim population of 11 million essentially comprises of Assamese speaking Muslims (indigenous Muslims) and Bengali speaking Muslims (alleged to be illegal immigrants). While the Assamese Muslims are spread out throughout Assam, the Muslims of East Bengal origin is generally concentrated in the middle and lower parts of Brahmaputra valley as well as in the Barak valley.
Assamese Muslims are more assimilated with Assamese culture and identity compared to Bengali Muslims.
At the times of election, political parties trying to communalize the country by calling most of them as Migrants, Bangladeshi etc.
However the Muslims in Belakoba village in Kokrajhar district are living in pathetic conditions. None of the Political parties have come to them to solve their issues, except using them as vote bank