It's not a fight of cultures & civilisations, but only to be CM, says Satya Ranjan Bora

GUWAHATI: In an apparent attack on Himanta Biswa Sarma's aspirations to be chief minister of Assam, Hindutva activist Satya Ranjan Bora today said only Sarbananda Sonowal can save Assam as the chief minister, but went on to call him a replica of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Stating that the Assam assembly election this has been a fight for the chief minister’s chair, Bora said: “Some say this time’s election is a fight of civilisations and cultures, which are absolute lies.”

The Sangh activist today came all guns blazing against a section of BJP leadership, apparently led by North East Democratic Alliance convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, for doing polarisation politics “misusing” All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal as a scapegoat “only to serve own purpose”.

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“We often come across doctored video clips framing Badruddin Ajmal as an anti-national. For instance, we had the clip of chanting of Pakistan Zindabad on Ajmal’s arrival at Silchar airport which later on turned out to be fake. Again, there appeared one where Ajmal is seen saying that India will become an Islamic country. Not a single Hindu would live. That too turned out to be doctored. Both the video clips were uploaded in Himanta Biswa Sarma’s social media page before being declared faked.

“If those were fake, why are creators of those fake videos not being nabbed till now? Those videos may have been declared fake, but they are still going viral on social media and the common Hindu people are being misled. The society is being divided on religious lines. But who is gaining from it? Neither the Muslim society, nor the Hindu society is gaining anything. Some vested interests are reaping the political benefits of these cheap misdemeanours,” the Right wing activist said.

He went on to bring in the context of PILs being filed at Supreme Court seeking amendment to certain verses in the holy Quran on the ground that 26 verses are the root cause of religious fundamentalism,and said: “I believe there are certain evil elements in the Muslim culture and those could be amended to bring in reforms to the Muslim society in Assam. It is not wise to misuse those social evils to frame the Muslims as terrorists or fundamentalists.”

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After some time of indirect attacks on Sarma, Bora made a scathing attack on the powerful leader saying: “Why should it be ‘Akou Ebar Modi Sarkar (Modi government once again)’ in Assam? Why couldn’t Himanta Biswa Sarma raise the slogan Akou Ebar Sonowal Sarkar at Dhekiajuli recently? … It seems it’s not a fight between civilisations or cultures, but only for the CM’s chair.”

He, however, said Sonowal cannot afford to be a mute leader like Manmohan Singh. “He is someone who got the IMDT Act repealed. He has always been a popular leader. But, he has been mute for quite some time. He cannot afford to be a replica of Manmohan Singh anymore,” Bora said.

Bora also did not hesitate in taking a dig at Sarma’s mother Mrinalini Devi for being vice president of Asam Sahitya Sabha. Criticising former Asam Sahitya Sabha president Paramananda Rajbongshi for changing party only for a BJP ticket to contest the polls, he accused Rajbongshi of slapping the literary body.

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“The Asam Sahitya Sabha has also been reduced to a political organisation after Paramananda Rajbongshi inflicted the most powerful slap on its face. People can now be the vice president of it with the only qualification of being somebody’s mother,” he said.

Asked if he would like to contest polls, Bora said: “I would like to. But, not by fooling around climbing atop vehicles or jumping around.”