New law in Assam soon for life imprisonment in 'love jihad' cases: Himanta Sarma
Himanta Biswa Sarma's BJP government in Assam is likely to soon introduce law for life imprisonment in cases related to "love jihad". “We spoke about ‘love jihad’ during the elections. Soon, we will bring a law which will award life imprisonment in such cases,” news agency PTI quoted Sarma as saying.
He made the remark at a state-level BJP executive meeting that occurred on Sunday in Guwahati.
He also announced a new domicile policy under which the mandatory eligibility criteria to get a state government job will be to be an Assamese-born person. He said the state government will soon introduce this policy.
Addressing the party members at the meeting, he said that as per the pre-poll promise, the state government has prioritised indigenous people in the “one lakh government jobs”. He assured that this will be evident when the complete list is published.
Meanwhile, he also said that the state government has taken a decision regarding the sale of land between Hindus and Muslims.
Although the government cannot prevent such a transaction, Sarma said his government has made it mandatory to take the consent of the chief minister before going ahead.
Earlier this month, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the
state will become Muslim-majority by 2041, citing a 30 per cent growth in the Muslim population every 10 years.
Sarma said Muslims now make up 40 per cent of Assam's population according to "statistical sampling." He also noted that while the Hindu population grows by 16 per cent every decade, the Muslim population's growth rate is nearly double.
Congress leader and former MP Danish Ali sharply criticised Sarma's remarks, accusing him of spreading falsehoods and creating division. Ali pointed out that, according to census data, the Muslim population in Assam was about 25 per cent in 1951 and 34.22 per cent in 2011.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also said the state government had taken a decision regarding the sale of land between Hindus and Muslims, which will make it mandatory to take the consent of the government before going ahead with the deak.
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