GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has strongly reacted to the recent controversial remarks made on the state by senior advocate Kapil Sibal during a hearing at the Supreme Court.
Kapil Sibal, during a hearing on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, had stated that Assam was historically a “part of Myanmar”.
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Reacting to this controversial statement by Kapil Sibal, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Northeast state was never a part of Myanmar.
Hitting out at Sibal, the Assam chief minister said: “It is inappropriate for a person who lacks knowledge in the concerned topic to give such strong opinions.”
“Assam was never a part of Myanmar,” said Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
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He added: “Just for a brief period there was a situation of occupation say for a month or so. Beyond that there is no connection between Assam and Myanmar.”
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma further said that “there is no valid data” proving any connection between Assam and Myanmar.
Assam was part of Myanmar: Kapil Sibal tells Supreme Court
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal has reportedly ‘distorted’ the history of Assam by saying that the Northeast state of Assam was once a part of Myanmar.
“Assam was a part of Myanmar…,” Kapil Sibal had said at the Supreme Court while commencing his submission in regards to petitions relating to Section 6A of the Citizenship Act.
“Migration of people in the population is embedded in history and cannot be mapped. Assam was a part of Myanmar and then the British conquered a part of it and that is how Assam was handed over to the British,” said Sibal.
“…you can now imagine the amount of movement of people that took place and under the partition, East Bengal and Assam became one and Bengali language was being taught in schools where there was large scale opposition. The interaction and absorption of the Bengali population in Assam has a historical context,” Sibal had said.