Museum on migrant Muslims stirs debate in Assam

BJP legislators have asked the government to pull it down

GUWAHATI

Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs in Assam have asked the State government to pull down a museum that showcases the culture of migrant Muslims in Goalpara district.

The private Miya Museum was inaugurated at Dapkarbhita in the Lakhipur area of Goalpara district on October 23.

‘Miya’ is a pejorative term used primarily by the indigenous communities to mean Bengal or Bengali-origin Muslims who have settled down in Assam since the late 1890s, initially brought by the British for commercial farming.

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Academics, professionals and writers within the community had a few years ago undertaken a project to reclaim the word for what it means in the true sense – ‘sir’ or ‘gentleman’.

While local leaders of the minority-based All India United Democratic Front have appreciated the effort to preserve the cultural traits of Muslims, including those inhabiting the char-chaporis (sandbars or river islands), BJP leaders have not taken kindly to the museum.