Himanta Biswa Sarma coins 'fertiliser jihad' to attack Assam's Bengali Muslim farmers

Sarma had earlier said that Assam 'was under chemical and biological attack from people who live in Kharupetia and Dalgaon', referring to Bengali Muslim farmers

In what looks like another communal pitching, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has ramped up his rhetoric against the state’s Bengali Muslim population by coming up with the term ‘fertiliser jihad’, The Indian Express reported on Sunday.

In calling on farmers to adopt organic farming and reduce their dependence on fertilisers, the publication quoted Sarma as saying at a Guwahati event, "(We) committed during the elections to fight against fertiliser jihad. There is so much power hidden in our soil and nature that if we learn to utilise that power, urea, phosphate, nitrate, etc will not be required. When we started our government in Assam, at that time we had said on the public stage that the uncontrolled use of fertilisers for growing various food materials in our state is causing illnesses of the kidney, heart, etc.”

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The publication also noted that during his time as Health Minister in Sarbananda Sonowal’s government, Sarma had said that Assam "was under chemical and biological attack from a section of people who live in Kharupetia and Dalgaon”, referring to Bengali Muslims in the state's Darrang district, who are the state's predominant vegetable growers, supplying produce to markets statewide, including Guwahati. The statement was made when Sarma was campaigning for the 2021 Assembly elections.

“People of Jorhat, Sivasagar and other Upper Assam districts are dependent on vegetables from Kharupetia and Dalgaon. But those farmers use dangerous chemicals for quick production and preservation of vegetables,” Sarma had said while campaigning.

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Responding to Sarma's claims, All India Democratic United Front general secretary Aminul Islam said, “Fertilisers and pesticides are health hazards and the state’s food and agriculture departments should take steps to control this and impose limitations and ensure their scientific use. The government is unable to do this… Once the term 'jihad' is used, the whole responsibility is attached to a particular community, a serious issue is made light.”

General secetary of the All Assam Minority Students’ Union Minatul Islam slammed Sarma's comment and said that a statement as such does not bode well with the dignity of CM's office.

“In truth, the work of feeding most of the state is done by the minority community, specifically Miya Muslims. And this Kharupetia belt is one of the main areas. They toil through the seasons to grow their crops,” he added.

Sarma, who left the Congress in 2015, has been one of the most vocal proponents of the Hindutva ideology and has often raked up the issue of "love jihad", despite the Centre telling the Lok Sabha in February 2020 that the concept does not exist under the law. Back then, Union MoS for Home, G Kishan Reddy had informed Parliament in response to a question, “The term ‘Love Jihad’ is not defined under the extant laws. No such case of ‘Love Jihad’ has been reported by any of the central agencies.”

Congress MP Abdul Khaleque took a dig at the CM saying that Sarma is targetting the Muslims, adding that “He should go ahead and stop all forms of jihad, but production still has to happen. The increase in production won’t come just by speaking."

That hasn't deterred Sarma, who just last year gave a "love jihad" spin to the alleged Delhi murder of Shraddha Walkar, a Hindu woman, by her Muslim boyfriend Aaftab Poonawala. The Assam BJP has also claimed the existence of a “land jihad”, claiming that land in the state was being occupied by illegal settlers - in the party's version, Bengali Muslims of the state.