Suspended Congress leader Sherman Ali Ahmed on Wednesday said that the Bengali-origin Muslim community, often called the Miyas in Assam, should not trust his party as it is no better than the BJP, reported NorthEast Now.
“The Miya community in Assam needs to be more scared of the Congress than the BJP,” he told reporters at a press conference.
In response, Congress MLA Abdur Rashid Mandal claimed that Ahmed had joined the party for his vested interests.
Ahmed, who is also the MLA from Baghbar, said that if the BJP is kafir (non-believers in God), then the Congress was munafiq (hypocrites).
“Fearing the BJP, the Miyas in Assam should not go seeking shelter from Congress as they too are no saint and have done similar damage to the community,” he said.
The MLA also claimed that the BJP has done contributed more to Assam’s development than what the Congress did in the past 70 years. Ahmed claimed that more people were evicted and killed under the Congress regime than the BJP rule.
Following Ali remarks, Mandal said the people who are anti-Congress are the ones who refuse to acknowledge the development done by the party. He added that Ahmed never supported Congress’ ideology.
“Coming to the point where he termed the Congress as munafiq, I would say that he too is munafiq as he is still a part of the Congress,” he added.
Last year, the Congress suspended Ahmed after he was arrested for making provocative statements on the 1983 Nellie Massacre.
Also read:
From history to lungis: How this Assam politician is battling for a distinct Miya Muslim identity
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