A ‘Miya museum’ in Assam’s Goalpara district was allegedly in violation of land and property laws, therefore the officials there sealed it on Tuesday. The’museum,’ in accordance with the authorities, was built within a house built using Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) money.
On October 23, the museum in the village of Dapkarbhita was inaugurated. Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, remarked of the ‘museum,’ ‘I don’t understand what kind of museum is this. The plough which they have placed in the museum is used by Assamese people, even the items used for catching fish are also from the Assamese community. What’s new about it? Everything kept there belong to Assamese people except for ‘lungi’. They must prove that the nangol (plough) is used only by Miya people and not others. Otherwise, a case will be registered.’
‘The museum in question only has traditional items which reflect the culture of Assamese society as a whole and not that of Miya community,’ Sarma said. Migrant Muslims from Bangladesh are commonly referred to as miya or no-asamiya (neo-Assamese). During the British era, their ancestors moved from places like Mymensingh, Rangpur, and Rajshahi Divisions in modern-day Bangladesh and settled in the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam.
Goalpara circle officer R Gogoi was quoted by the news agency ANI as saying: ‘As per Goalpara Deputy Commissioner’s direction, we’ve sealed the house built under PMAY-G, inside which Miya Museum was opened.’
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