Assam CM defends scrapping namaz break dares Tejashwi Yadav to practice it in Bihar before preaching

Guwahati: Bogged down by attack from various quarters including NDA allies for scrapping namaz break, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma defended the decision while claiming that it was reached through consensus among Hindu and Muslim legislators.

It is significant that key NDA allies JDU and LJP have expressed their disagreement with Assam chief minister and criticised the state assembly's decision to discontinue its two-hour Friday break for Muslim MLAs to offer namaz.

Mr Sarma however chose to target former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav who termed Mr Sarma a “Chinese version of Yogi" following Assam assembly scrapping a two-hour Friday break that allowed Muslim lawmakers to offer namaz.

Advising him to start this practice of namaz break in the assembly of his state, he said, “Practice before preaching, If he starts this in Bihar, I will also re-start in Assam.”

Mr Sarma said, “The decision to end the Jumma break in Assam was also supported by the Congress. There is no such break in Bihar or any other assembly of the country. I am surprised that people outside Assam are opposing it without thinking.”

Mr Yadav in his social media post stated, “In an attempt to gain cheap popularity and become the "Chinese version of Yogi", the chief minister of Assam deliberately keeps doing acts that harass Muslims. The people of BJP have made Muslim brothers a soft target to spread hatred, attract the attention of Modi-Shah and polarize the society. People of all religions, except RSS, have a hand in the independence of the country. Our Muslim brothers have made sacrifices in getting the country's freedom and as long as we are here, no one can harm them.”

Senior JDU functionary K C Tyagi said that the Preamble of the Constitution provides for liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. No one should do anything which hurts the spirit of the Constitution and the religious sentiments of people, he added.

LJP's Delhi president Raju Tiwari also raised objections to the Assam government decision, suggesting that the freedom of religious practices must be respected.

Meanwhile, Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh in his social media post said, “It appears that the INDI Alliance is made up of a bunch of ignorant racists who have no information about the history & geography of our country. First, it was Sam Pitroda. Now, it’s Tejashwi Yadav who is being racist towards the people of North east.”