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BJP will never allow Char-Chapori museum: Dass

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Oct 27 - The ruling BJP today asserted that it will not allow any museum reflecting the culture and heritage of the people living in Char-Chaporis to be set up in the premises of the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra. Addressing a press conference here, State BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass accused Congress legislator Sherman Ali Ahmed of igniting the controversy and also alleged that the principal opposition party wants to create religious polarization over the matter.

�Under no circumstances will the BJP allow any Char-Chapori museum to be set up at the Kalakshetra. And the BJP welcomes the statement made by the Chief Minister in this regard,� Dass said. He added, �Why should there be a Char-Chapori museum at the Kalakshetra? When we talk of Char-Chapori two things emerge. Who reside in the Char areas? All of us know that. Barring minorities, members of no other community reside in the Char areas. But in Chaporis our indigenous Assamese sons of the soil reside. So the concept of Chars and Chaporis are distinct. The government will think if any steps should be taken for the Chars and Chaporis. There is a government department for that purpose.�

Dass claimed that any attempt to set up a museum reflecting the culture and heritage of the people living in Char-Chaporis at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra will �hurt the self-esteem of the Assamese people�.

�The BJP will never allow anything which may hurt the self-esteem of the Assamese people,� he added.

He said that only five out of the 16 members of the Departmentally Related Standing Committee (DRSC) on Education were present during the meeting where the recommendation for the museum was made.

�The committee�s chairman Utpal Dutta was not present and so Mansing Rongpi presided over the meeting. And MLAs Wazed Ali Choudhury, Sherman Ali Ahmed, Ganesh Kumar Limbo and Rupak Sarmah were present. So, only five members were present. Besides, the DRSC can only make recommendations, and it is not binding on the government to accept all such recommendations,� Dass said.

He added that the concerned DRSC meeting had also made three other recommendations, including that for setting up a separate museum on the Gorkha community at the Kalakshetra, besides for establishing a museum at Hamren in Karbi Anglong and for filling up vacant posts at the Nagaon museum.

�There is no mention of any �Miyan Museum� in any of the recommendations. But later Sherman Ali Ahmed, in his posts and interviews, mentioned about Miyan Museum because the Congress wants to create a controversy by promoting religious polarization,� said the State BJP president.

He said that the aim of the Congress is to win over the AIUDF�s support base in Lower Assam.

�The AIUDF has influence in the western part of the State. If the Congress and the AIUDF fight against one another, then the Congress will not manage to win even a single seat in Lower or western Assam. As Sherman Ali Ahmed is a member of the Congress he made the comments about the Miyan Museum to create a controversy. It is a conspiracy of the Congress to erode and win over the vote bank of the AIUDF. We have nothing to say if the Congress wants to take over the votes of the AIUDF because for us both parties are two sides of the same coin. But the BJP has made it categorically clear that under no circumstances will we allow a Char-Chapori museum to be set up at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra,� Dass said.

He added, �Controversy has arisen because Sherman Ali Ahmed spoke about a Miyan Museum.�

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