GUWAHATI: A major controversy has erupted in Assam following tagging of Ismail Siddique, popularly known as Bagh Hazarika, as a “fictional character” by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Ismail Siddique, popularly known as Bagh Hazarika, was a 17th century Ahom army warrior, who fought the Mughals alongside Lachit Barphukan in the famous Battle of Saraighat.
Ismail Siddique alias Bagh Hazarika is believed to be was the second in command to Ahom General Lachit Barphukan in the Battle of Saraighat.
Recently, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while addressing a state convention of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Guwahati, said that Bagh Hazarika was a fictional character.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had claimed that there was no authentic information about Bagh Hazarika in the history books.
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“Our history teachers have never questioned this narrative,” Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said while saying that a narrative had been created about him (Bagh Hazarika).
Slamming the Assam chief minister over his statement on Bagh Hazarika, several Assam Muslim intellectuals and scholars rejected the CM’s “interpretation of history”.
“We reject the chief minister’s interpretation of history about one of Assam’s illustrious sons with a communal overtone,” a statement issued by 10 Assamese Muslim intellectuals and scholars said.
“If there is any confusion about Bagh Hazarika, the government should constitute a committee of historians under a university in Assam to find out whether he existed or not,” the statement said.
The 10 include professors Abu Nasser Syed Ahmed and Poynuruddin Ahmed, former Minister Samsul Huda, political activist Mehdi Alam Bora, and Kazi Nekib Ahmed and Mushtaq Golam Osmani of the Bagh Hazarika Research Forum.
Also read: Assam: Tai Ahom body warns CM Himanta Biswa Sarma against distortion of Ahom history
Recently, the Tai Ahom Yuva Parishad (TAYP) had warned Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma against distortion of Ahom history.
In a statement, TAYP president Vijay Rajkonwar urged the Assam chief minister to refrain from distorting the history of Ahoms.
“Avoid the thought of distorting the history of the Ahoms. This history is thousands of years old and written history. Mahavir Lachit Borphukan cannot be made a Hindu hero even if you try a thousand times,” the TAYP president said.
“Lachit Borphukan is an Ahom and Assamese hero, he is not a religious warrior. We don’t even allow it to happen,” Rajkonwar added.
In his address at the ABVP conference, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that the name of Ahom King Chakradhar Singh carries the identity of Hindus.
Reacting to the Assam chief minister’s comments that there is no authentic information in history about the presence of Bagh Hazarika, Rajkonwar said whether he was a part of the battle of Saraighat or not, Tai script will tell.
“The chief minister or anyone else cannot keep saying it,” he added.
Referring to Chief Minister’s comments about Lachit Borphukan going to Kamakhya temple to offer prayers, the TAYP president said, “Ahoms are allowed to go anywhere. They eat all types of food. There is no restriction in Ahom tradition and beliefs. The Ahoms worship nature and their ancestors.”