Himanta Biswa Sarma at Idea Exchange: ‘Don’t think polarisation needed in Assam, I controlled the menace’

Asked whether a moderate face of Sarma would be seen in the next five years after his re-election in May, he said: “I do not think polarisation is required in Assam. I have controlled that menace. Now nobody can put a finger on Assamese people. No one has the guts to encroach on the land of temples, nobody has the guts to pick up a girl without her consent. Now people have been streamlined, people have become law abiding. Once everyone abides by the law, I do not need to talk every day. I have to speak whenever it is required.”

According to Sarma, the indigenous community, which includes “Assamese Muslims”, was frustrated at feeling it was turning into a minority, and needed a polarising figure who would speak for it.

“Because we did not have a figure, (there was) reason for frustration. I saw the requirement. Now people feel confident. Nothing has changed numerically, but people feel that there is a government which will not take care of just one community but they will listen to us too. Earlier, they felt they were fragmented and would not have the power to install a government of their own,” he said.

“People wanted a polarising figure… and I served that purpose,” he said.

At the state polls this year, Sarma, who is known for his controversial remarks, led the BJP to a resounding victory, reducing the Congress to 19 seats in the 126-member Assembly.

Asked about the ongoing tensions in Manipur, Sarma maintained that the conflict was between communities and could only be resolved through discussions between them, not outside intervention.

“In Manipur, the conflict is between the communities — of Kukis and Meiteis, and now between Kukis and Nagas. It’s very strong and can never be resolved by outside intervention. We can restore law and order. But we cannot sit two brothers and settle their dispute. We can encourage, but cannot force… You cannot settle those disputes, particularly among the tribal communities.. There is no memorandum or charter of demands for the Government of India. They say it’s their fight and that they should find a solution,” he said.

“You cannot put a rifle on them and say if you don’t resolve the issues before 6 o’clock tomorrow we will do something. We can maintain law and order but a solution has to come from the community. We can just encourage them for discussions,” he said.

Sarma, who has been a critic of Rahul Gandhi ever since he left the Congress in 2015, alleged that the opposition party has shifted its ideological position from centrist to Leftist.

“Congress never asked questions like ‘what’s your caste?’ Rahul Gandhi asked this to a reporter. He typically borrowed this from the JNU and from the Left. When he wants to make a chief minister from his party he never asks his jaati (caste)… When he replaced OBC Siddaramaiah (in Karnataka) with a (D K) Shivkumar, a non-OBC, he did not ask his caste. This is typical Left style: what he says is not practiced in their families. Now the slogans of the Congress and AISA’s slogans are similar,” he said.

“I was in Congress for 22 years. It never had dafli-wala (the handheld drum widely used in street protests) culture. There was never a talk about casteism. Congress was always centrist. There was never such an ideological shift. They have lost their centrist position now. That’s why followers of Nehru, Gandhi, Sardar Patel do not relate with the present Congress,” Sarma said.