Pakistan will attack India if BJP not voted back to power, says Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

The “Pakistan Army or terrorists” could come and attack the “Indian Parliament and Assam Assembly” and the Prime Minister in power “would not have the courage to retaliate” if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not voted back to power, senior Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who holds multiple portfolios including Finance and Health, said on Sunday.

Sarma who was addressing an election rally in Kampur in Nagaon district said that the country needs a prime minister such as Narendra Modi, and added that the “new India” can retaliate, and has the courage to take appropriate action against the neighbouring nation – Pakistan.

Adding that in Assam, 130 people were detained post the Pulwama terror attack for reportedly hailing Pakistan on social media, Sarma warned, “Just think about it, that in Assam we have given birth to such power, that they have the courage to write ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ on social media. How did this happen?”

Himanta Biswa Sarma accused the Congress party of “surrendering” to people “who share Pakistan Zindabad” posts on social media.

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“If India is not united under the leadership of the ruling BJP, then in Assam, one day, these people who say ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ will end up destroying our civilisation and culture. And this is the reason why our war is not only for development.

Terming it “politics of identity with politics of development”, he said that India will fight for development, and on the other, we will fight to protect our identity and land.

He also made remarks about Muslims in Assam and said that the “heart of the Na-Axomiya (which means the new Assamese)” —a phrase given to Bengali-origin Muslims who list Assamese as their mother tongue in the language survey — is “with Pakistan and not with India”.

Sarma said further that the BJP has said very clearly that along with the development, the party will also adopt a “zero tolerance policy towards Pakistani agents hiding among us in the Assam state.”