New Delhi: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s recent remarks on Bengali-speaking Muslims living in his state challenge India’s core constitutional principles and his government’s actions “[bear] the hallmark signatures of ethnic cleansing”, a group of academics, activists and lawyers have warned.In a statement bearing 188 signatures and which is reproduced at the end of this article, they also said that the chief minister’s “alarmingly divisive and despicable” statements “[usher] in a new era of impunity for hate speech in this state”.Deeming the depiction of Bengali-speaking Muslims as ‘infiltrators’ or outsiders to be “deeply ahistorical”, they said that the Sarma government’s alleged “increased surveillance and policing” of the ethnic group, “weaponisation of citizenship determination/foreigner detection laws to declare [them] as foreigners” and “targeted demolitions of homes and public structures in Muslim-majority districts” characterise a “policy programme that now bears the hallmark signatures of ethnic cleansing”.“The United Nations broadly defines ethnic cleansing as ‘a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas’. The actions of the Sarma government are perilously close to this definition,” the signatories said.They also pointed to a report of many Muslim people being nominated en bloc for deletion from the voter rolls as well as of members of the Bengali Muslim community being evicted or summarily deported to Bangladesh.Assam’s ongoing special revision has been in the spotlight due to reports of people in several Muslim-majority districts being nominated ‘in bulk’ for deletion, prompting “panic and anxiety among Bengal-origin Muslims”, as noted by Scroll. The claims and objections phase of the exercise, where election officials adjudicate on nominations for inclusion in and deletion from the rolls, concludes Monday (February 2) and the final voter list is to be published on February 10.Unequivocally condemning the Sarma government’s policies and the CM’s remarks that “challenge the core constitutional principles of justice, equality and secularism”, the signatories expressed pride in Assam’s “rich multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-linguistic history” and insisted that elected leaders “[uphold] the democratic principles of pluralistic coexistence, equality and justice.”Sarma recently said – among other things – that it was “his job” to make ‘Miya’ Muslims “suffer” and exhorted listeners to do the same so that the group leaves Assam.He and his BJP, Sarma said, “are directly against Miyas … We are saying it openly; we are not hiding it … We are ensuring that they cannot vote in Assam.”Earlier he had also suggested that notices under the ongoing special revision in Assam are being served only to Bengali-speaking Muslims.Among the statement’s signatories is human rights defender and former IAS officer Harsh Mander, who filed a police complaint against Sarma for his remark and against whom the chief minister has threatened “at least 100 cases”. Mander told The Wire Hindi that he would continue doing his work.§Public statement condemning the hateful and divisive rhetoric of the Assam chief minister against Bengali MuslimsAs scholars, activists, lawyers, and concerned citizens, we strongly condemn the prejudicial and alarmingly hateful rhetoric of the Hon’ble Chief Minister (CM) of Assam, Mr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, against a section of the minority population of the state in the run up to the assembly election later this year.In a recent event in Digboi, Sarma stated in the context of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls that his intention is to “make the Miya people suffer”. The term ‘Miya’ is a pejorative reference to the state’s significant population of Bengali Muslims, who are often prejudicially framed as ‘outsiders’, ‘foreigners’ and ‘infiltrators’. Sarma’s communally-inflamed rhetoric positions them as deserving of nothing but suffering at the hands of the Assamese people.The Assam CM has not only brazenly expressed his government’s intent to send objection notices to the ‘Miya’ people to ensure that at least “4-5 lakh” of them are dropped from voter rolls, but also pointedly called on the majority to mount a sectarian economic boycott by paying them lesser than they deserve in informal jobs (such as rickshaw pullers). Sarma, further, has explicitly stated that his government has evicted only the ‘Miya’ as part of an ongoing campaign of forced evictions across the state, sparing the ‘indigenous Assamese Muslims’.Mr. Sarma’s words are alarmingly divisive and despicable, and reflect a worsening climate of hatred towards the Bengali Muslim community in Assam. While discrimination against the community is not new in Assam, this represents an unprecedented escalation on the part of an elected political leader holding a constitutional post and ushers in a new era of impunity for hate speech in this state. The framing of Bengali-Muslims as ‘infiltrators’ or ‘outsiders’ is deeply ahistorical. The people to whom Sarma refers were born and raised in Assam; they belong to India and Assam in every way. Through increased surveillance and policing, weaponisation of citizenship determination/foreigner detection laws to declare Bengali Muslims as ‘foreigners’, and targeted demolitions of homes and public structures in Muslim-majority districts, this government is putting together a policy programme that now bears the hallmark signatures of ethnic cleansing.The United Nations broadly defines ethnic cleansing as “a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas”. The actions of the Sarma government are perilously close to this definition.Worryingly, Sarma’s words are not confined to just verbal iterations. Through law, policing and violence, he is keeping his word – he is making Bengali-Muslims suffer, as indicated by journalistic reports on [special revision]-linked exclusions, forced evictions and forced transfer of Bengali-Muslims into Bangladesh.The majoritarianism of the government has seismic consequences on the lives of this minority – including expulsion from their homes and the country, the infliction of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and the arbitrary deprivation of life. As members of the academic community, activist fraternity and civil society, we refuse to be silent and unequivocally condemn the Assam government’s discriminatory violence against the state’s Bengali-Muslims. We also express alarm at the impunity with which the CM continues to openly target a specific group of people belonging to an ethno-religious minority and in doing so, challenge the core constitutional principles of justice, equality and secularism. We demand that this government cease its policies of unlawful pushbacks to Bangladesh; the unlawful demolition of homes and public structures; the unlawful stripping of voting rights from citizens of India; and the use of rhetoric designed to dehumanise and exclude the Bengali-Muslims of Assam. We are proud of Assam’s rich multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-linguistic history and fiercely insist on elected leaders upholding the democratic principles of pluralistic coexistence, equality and justice.Signed in solidarity Padmini Baruah (Pakeezeh), National University of Singapore Douglas McDonald-Norman, University of Technology Sydney Debasreeta Deb, University of HyderabadAngshuman Choudhury, researcher and writerAnjuman Ara Begum, Social worker and human rights researcherAngana Chakrabarti, Independent JournalistSabita Lahkar, Independent Journalist and social workerAmmu Joseph, Independent journalist and authorMukul Kalita, Independent JournalistSK Abid Hasan, Politician, Independent ResearcherRevathi Siva Kumar, Independent JournalistSaikat Bhattacharya, KolkataMaitreyee Boruah, Independent journalistLara Jesani, People’s Union for Civil LibertiesSumona ChoudhuryChittajit Mitra, PUCL David FernandesFeroze Mithiborwala, Hum Bharat Ke LogFrazer Mascarenhas, Academic administratorRukhshanda Naz, Women & Peace ActivistBruce K Thangkhal, KV MEDIADiya Sameer, Centre for Study of Society and SecularismSandhya Gokhale, Forum Against Oppression of WomenCynthia Stephen, Independent policy analystAdv Dr Shalu Nigam, LawyerLinda Chhakchhuak, Concerned CitizenHemant M, Human Rights ActivistTeesta SetalvadAranyani B, Dancer and choreographerSamita Chatterjee, Visual ArtistRehanaGeeta Seshu, JournalistSuhayel Al Subid, MBBS student (final year)Ngul Min Thang, OCBCMukta SrivastavaProf. Mohan Rao, Former professor JNUChayanika Shah, Member, Forum Against Oppression of Women, MumbaiPreeti DashVrijendraPervin SanghviSarayu PaniIrfan Engineer, Citizens for the ConstitutionSumita Hazarika, LawyerBeena ChoksiNorbert mrndoncaDevdan TribhuvanVinodini LullaAheli Moitra, Journalist & academicSwati Narayanसुनील मनवरNeeta KolhatkarManoranjan PeguGeeta K, Concerned CitizenAshish KabraArif HosseinK.Ravi Chander, ActivistVinay Sreenivasa, Advocate, BengaluruAparna AsarRamneek Singh, Playwright and TeacherPari Saikia, Human Trafficking Journalist(Independent), and campaigner #kNOwHumanTraffickingKalim Ahmed, Research Manager, Tech Global Institute (TGI)Ronjini RayMasaddar Hussain, General Secretary, Assam Civil SocietyBernard DmelloIndranil BiswasIshita C, Lawyer, researcherReza MahmudStanley Fernandez, Citizens For the Constitutionsujata gothoskar, forum against oppression of womenAnurag Das, National University of SingaporeRaina BhattacharyaVarada BAshis Kumar Das, RTD BankerAlexio Fernandes, IRD Cell, OLLC Orlem Church and BCSSwathi SorenSameer Wagle, Mumbai for PeaceAdil Al AyubiSyed Irfan, CitizenPushpendra, PUCLRavleen Kaur, JournalistBulbul AzadRashida TapadarShikha Nehra, PhD Student, Stanford UniversitySalome Roy KapurRohan DsouzaTaniya Laskar, AdvocateKumudini, IndependentNisha BiswasBadruzzaman Mazumdar, Mental TherapistManas Das, Forum for Social HarmonyPadmanav Baruah, PhD student, Illinois State UniversityMonika patel, Content creator and writerDeepak Goswami, Axom Nagarik SamajDevabrata Sharma, URMCASnehal ShahRinita Singh, CitizenAmita SheereenSherena R KhanSishir Dey, Advocate and Human Rights ActivistJeba AkhtarForhad Ali, Colours of Peace (NGO)Nargis Choudhury, Research ScholarOliullah Laskar, Advocate, Gauhati High CourtMd Alim Uddin sheikh, Lawyer, Social activistAijoni Das, Social WorkerGangadharan Menon, Visiting ProfessorRoukim Hengna, Msc, MA & InvestorShelima SamimDr. Sima Ghosh, RTD. Associate Professor, WriterSurath Zamal Ahmed, Former Student Leader, ABMSUAsifa YasminParesh HateImamul Hussain, M.A, B.Ed, Kokrajhar, AssamZamser Ali, Journalist and Politician Nasir, Social EntrepreneurNeelam NarayanGeet (Sangeeta Goel), Independent artist and educatorMoumita Alam, Poet and essayistAbdul HalimKalparnab Gupta, Reasearch Scholar & Civil Rights ActivistKhan Ashraful AlomFiroz, Concerned CitizenPrateek Vijayavargia, JNUHena Naaz, StudentSohrab Mohammed LaskarPuja, University of Bristol Anwarul Islam LaskarNilanjana Das, Social WorkerMohan KumarGautam Mody, New Trade Union InitiativePrabhakar Kumar, PatnaAnanye KrishnaMoinul Hoque Khan, Social WorkerPrashant BhawareAmritlal Das, Social Activist, General Secretary, Sara Asom Bengali Oikyomoncha, AssamAjit Patowary, IndependentShahbazGulshan Banas AmritaMohd Salman Ansari, Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)Mustafa SalimMartin Lalpekhlua Blah, University of BristolSamuel Pachuau, ZYWC (Member)Khuptawn Eng, Independent ResearcherSamuel Pachuau, ZYWCSamuel LalrinsiamaMonowar HussainHabibul HoqueShankar Gopal, Chetna AndolanKamru Choudhury, Civil EngineerSuraj GogoiShiraz bulsara prabhu, PUCLDr. Mahmud HassanN. Jayaram, JournalistSweta Dash, Researcher and Independent journalistLotika, Concerned Citizen Rajeev, Concerned CitizenMary MJaheer Ahmed ChoudhuryAfjalur RahmanMiftaul Haque, Citizen Sruti, concerned citizenAsif Hussain, Patriot and concerned citizenYanur rahmanPushpamala N, Independent artist Jisan Ali, Jadavpur University Prerna, University of Delhi Juheb Hussain Imran Farhad Kazi Alien Rana, citizen Ameya Bokil Farhan Ahmed Axom, Citizen Kamrul islam Laskar Qamar ul Rashminara Laskar Zubair Rahman, a concerned citizen Ruth Hnamte, ZYWC188. Harsh Mander, Karwan e Mohabbat