Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed his “shame” on Friday, April 4, regarding a statement made by a Member of Parliament from his state during the debate on the Waqf Bill, which claimed that Muslims were prohibited from performing Eid prayers on the streets. He subsequently issued an apology for this assertion.
”The people of Assam also do not want to offer ‘namaz’ on streets when there are beautiful and good mosques in the state”, the CM said at a press conference after a cabinet meeting.
CM Sarma was apparently referring to Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, though he did not name him directly.
Gogoi, during the debate, had criticised the government for allegedly preventing Muslims from offering Eid prayers on streets, questioning the BJP’s commitment to minority rights ”People from across the country are calling me about it. We are ashamed and I as the CM apologise to people across the country’, CM Sarma said.
There has been no demand from Muslims that they want to offer prayers on roads, he added.
“This MP went to the extreme of highlighting only one community’s role. There was no mention of Mahatma Gandhi, Gopinath Bordoloi, Subhas Chandra Bose, or other key figures,” Sarma said.
