Guwahati: All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) leaders are at loggerheads with Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi over controversial remarks by former All Assam Minorities Students’ Union (Aamsu) president Rejaul Karim Sarkar.Sarkar triggered a controversy by vowing to allegedly turn indigenous people-inhabited upper Assam districts like Sivasagar and Tinsukia into districts like Dhubri, where minorities play a determining role.Aasu president Utpal Sarma on Saturday said a question mark will always remain as to why Gogoi remained a mute spectator when Sarkar gave such a threat during his Congress joining event in Guwahati recently. However, Sarkar soon resigned from primary membership of the Congress after some senior party leaders criticised him for the controversial comment. Gaurav had defended Sarkar, saying he (Sarkar) referred to the concept of Bor Asom (Greater Assam), advocating unity among all communities.“Sarkar has served his purpose. The people, to appease whom he gave the controversial statement, are satisfied. But for us the question is why the Assam Congress president could not stop Sarkar from making such a statement,” Sarma said.Sarkar in a cultural function in Bongaigaon early this week said the minority community should bring “jihad” in education by educating their children anyhow. He added that poor Muslim guardians should not even hesitate to sell a kidney to meet the expenditure of the education of their children.Hitting back at the comment, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said Sarkar will be put behind bars if he utters the word jihad in education ever again. “He (Sarkar) could have talked about development of education, but pointed out that, like love jihad, they will also do education jihad,” Sarma said.
