Karimganj renamed: AIUDF slams Assam CM, says ‘Karim means love and affection’
AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam said the name was being changed only because it was linked to Islam, and said ‘they only see Muslims in Karim’
The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has slammed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for renaming Karimganj district to Sribhumi in the state and said it was done only because the name was linked to Islam.
“They only see Muslims in Karim... but Karim has a good meaning. It means love and affection,” AIUDF general secretary and Jania MLA Rafiqul Islam said.
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'Historical name'
Reacting to Sarma’s remark that there was no meaning of Karimganj in Assamese and Bengali dictionaries, he said that it was a historical name.
“Karimganj is a historical name. If they are saying that they will change the names that are not in the dictionary, then thousands of names in Assam will have to be changed,” he said.
He said that during the time of partition, the district was split into two parts and Pakistan took the part that was Sylhet.
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“We speak with pride that our ancestors made efforts to keep Karimganj part of India,” Islam added.
He also criticised the Assam chief minister for spending so much time outside his state in election campaigning.
“It is difficult to say he is the chief minister of Assam. He has nothing to do right now. He stayed in Jharkhand for a month,” said Islam.
CM recalls Tagore's words
Sarma on Tuesday (November 19) announced that the Karimganj district would be renamed as Sribhumi.
“Over 100 years ago, Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore had described modern day Karimganj District in Assam as ‘Sribhumi’ - the land of Maa Lakshmi. Today the Assam Cabinet has fulfilled this longstanding demand of our people,” Sarma posted on X.
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Sarma said they could criticise him, but questioned why they were criticising Rabindranath Tagore. He asked why a district in Assam should be named after an unknown person, and said it should have been changed long ago.
