Syeda Hameed caused a stir as the remark by the activist and former member of the Planning Commission that "this world is so large that it can have Bangladeshis here (in Assam)" was condemned by the state's political leaders.
Hameed was in Assam with a delegation made up of former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, activist Harsh Mander, and ex-Rajya Sabha's Jawhar Sircar.
On Saturday, the delegation, was taken to a site in Goalpara district where the Assam government had carried out an eviction of a settlement, and to a site of a proposed satellite township in Borduar that has raised issues with land acquisition.
On Sunday luazt evening the delegation participated in a public meeting titled the "State of the Nation with Special reference to Assam" in Guwahati which was organized by the Axom Nagarik Sanmilani, and chaired by Independent Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, Ajit Kumar Bhuyan.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Hameed said, “The condition of Assam is such that you can say that ‘Mussalmano pe qayamat doob rahi hai’ (doomsday is descending on Muslims). Muslims are being targeted, and those of us who live in Delhi, our hearts are, at this time, with the Muslims and their condition here.”
“What is the crime in being Bangladeshi? Bangladeshis are also people. The world is so big that Bangladeshis can also be here. They are not depriving anyone of their rights. To say that they are depriving these people of their rights, and those people of their rights. It’s a very troublesome, extremely mischievous, and very detrimental to humanity… They are humans. Allah has made this earth for humans,” she said.
“I live in Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi; there, too, we are having these evictions. What is happening in Goalpara is also happening in Jamia. It is qayamat on Muslims. We are for Hindus, we are for Christians, we are for Sikhs, and we are for Muslims as well,” she said.
The state’s leaders, including Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, reacted sharply, with the CM accusing her of “legitimising illegal infiltrators.” Cabinet minister Pijush Hazarika referred to her as a “venomous Miya sympathiser.”
“People like Syeda Hameed, a close confidant of the Gandhi family, legitimise illegal infiltrators as they seek to realise Jinnah’s dream of making Assam a part of Pakistan. Today, Assamese identity is on the brink of extinction because of the tacit support of people like her. But we are the sons and daughters of Lachit Barphukan. We will fight till the last drop of our blood to save our State and our identity. Let me make it very clear, Bangladeshis are not welcome in Assam; it is not their land. Anyone sympathising with them may accommodate them in their own backyards. Assam is not up for grabs by illegal infiltrators, not now, not ever,” Sarma wrote on X.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju weighed in too, accusing her of “misleading in the name of humanity.” “It’s not about religion, but our land. If Assam becomes demographically vulnerable, the remaining states of North East are in physical danger for the Indian Union,” he wrote.
Hameed's comments have been criticized not only by the BJP but also by other political entities in Assam, a state with a long border with Bangladesh, that has been contentious on the topic of "illegal immigration" from Bangladesh.
Utpal Sarma, president of the All Assam Students' Union, view her comments as "anti-Assam and anti-national."
Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, similarly condemned her comments but attempted to deflect blame, asserting that the BJP's push for the Citizenship Amendment Act--that provides expedited citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who entered India prior to December 31, 2014--housed the remarks.
“We want the Assam Accord to be implemented and that all foreigners, regardless of religion, who entered Assam after March 24, 1971, be arrested and deported… If Prime Minister Narendra Modi had acted on his 2014 promise at Judge Field in Guwahati to deport Bangladeshis, Assam would not have been in this situation today,” he said.
Sivasagar MLA and Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi also used the CAA while criticizing both Hameed and the BJP.
“This is a very sensitive time for Assam. At this time, to say such insensible things that are against the interest of Assam does not do anything but help the BJP. That’s why I want to state very clearly that the Assamese people do not accept any kind of foreigners, be it Hindu or Muslim… I request people not to make such statements in Assam. I also request them to learn and understand Assam’s history, political history, and the people’s struggles,” he said.
The organizers of the public meeting, after which she made the remarks, also dissociated themselves, calling it her "personal opinion."
“Our view is clear on the issue of foreign nationals. The Assam Accord is a cornerstone for us in this regard. We want all foreigners who came after March 25, 1971, irrespective of Hindu-Muslim, to be expelled from Assam through a legal process… The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam government, which wants to settle Hindu Bangladeshis through the CAA, has no moral right to comment on foreign nationals,” read a statement by Ajit Bhuyan and Paresh Malakar on behalf of the Axom Nagarik Sanmilan.
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