Row erupts after activist says Bangladeshis can live in Assam

Activist and former Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed’s remark that “the world is so big that Bangladeshis can also be [in Assam]” has sparked a row.

Hameed was in Assam as part of a civil society delegation that included former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, activist Harsh Mander and former Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar, The Indian Express reported.

On Saturday, the group visited a site in Goalpara district where the Assam government had recently carried out evictions, and earmarked an area for a proposed township in Borduar, where concerns have been raised about land acquisition.

On Sunday, the delegation addressed a public meeting in Guwahati organised by the Axom Nagarik Sanmilan, the newspaper reported. The meeting was chaired by Independent Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Hameed said that Muslims in Assam were facing something like “qayamat”, or doomsday.

“Muslims are being targeted, and those of us who live in Delhi, our hearts are, at this time, with the Muslims and their conditions here,” she said.

“What is the crime in being Bangladeshi? Bangladeshis are also people,” Hameed said. “The world is so big that Bangladeshis can also be here. They are not depriving anyone of their rights.”

Saying that Bangladeshi immigrants are depriving Indians of their rights is...

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