Guwahati, Jan 24 (IANS) The Assam Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a strong attack on the state Congress President Gaurav Gogoi, accusing him of promoting what it described as a “new Greater Assam” centred on the Miya community, allegedly undermining the state’s historical, cultural and social foundations.
Addressing reporters on Friday at the state BJP headquarters — Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhavan, party spokesperson Jayanta Kumar Goswami claimed that Gogoi’s political narrative is influenced by the ideology propagated by Miya leader Rezaul Karim.
Goswami alleged that this approach runs contrary to the original concept of Greater Assam envisioned by Ahom king Swargadeo Chaolung Sukapha, who unified seven kingdoms, and by Srimanta Sankardeva, the saint-reformer who fostered cultural and social harmony across communities.
The BJP spokesperson said that Sukapha’s vision of Assam was rooted in unity among diverse ethnic and cultural groups, while Sankardeva’s Neo-Vaishnavite movement played a pivotal role in binding society beyond caste and community distinctions.
He cited Sankardeva’s integration of Chand Sai into the Neo-Vaishnavite fold as an example of inclusive assimilation based on Assamese cultural values.
Goswami further alleged that Rezaul Karim, after joining the Congress in the past, had publicly threatened from a party platform that historically indigenous regions such as Sivasagar would be turned into Miya-dominated areas similar to Dhubri.
Though Karim later quit the Congress, Goswami claimed that the ideological line he represented continues to be reflected in Gaurav Gogoi’s political positioning.
Questioning the Congress leader Gogoi’s intentions, the BJP spokesperson alleged that Gogoi’s idea of a “new Greater Assam” involves close engagement with Miya youth leaders who have reportedly demanded reservation of 48 Assembly constituencies exclusively for the Miya community.
Such demands, he said, could seriously disturb the state’s social equilibrium and democratic balance.
The Assam BJP reiterated that it stands firmly by the vision of Greater Assam shaped by Sukapha and Sankardeva — one that emphasises unity, cultural cohesion and collective identity.
Goswami said the BJP would continue to oppose any political narrative that, in its view, seeks to divide Assamese society along communal or sectional lines, warning that such approaches pose a threat to the state’s long-standing social harmony.
–IANS
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