“Assam’s 90 per cent Muslims had not voted for us in Parliamentary elections. So, what is the point in giving fodder to cows which do not give milk.. Phukan.
Guwahati
Prasanta Phukan, BJP MLA from Dibrugarh of Assam in a controversial statement said that ” the Muslims are cows that do not give milk ” . Phukan suggested that the state government should not take care of the Muslims as they do not vote for BJP, report published in various dailies.
“Assam’s 90 per cent Muslims had not voted for us in Parliamentary elections. So, what is the point in giving fodder to cows which do not give milk.. ?” Phukan had said on Tuesday.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly (ALA) Debabrata Saikia has asked speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami to take action against Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan for his alleged derogatory remarks against Muslims.
Saikia in a letter to ALA speaker Goswami said that he would like to draw the speaker’s attention to certain remarks made by legislator Phukan, which were aired on local TV channels over the last couple of days.
Phukan’s remark ruffled the feathers of a section of people, particularly lawyers, who demanded that a case be registered against him and action must be taken as per the law.
The Senior advocate Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury of Gauhati High Court wondered as to why action against Phukan was not taken yet by the Assembly speaker or the governor. He insisted that the police register a case suo motu against the MLA.
“A case under non-bailable Sections of IPC should be registered against him as he committed a grave crime,” Choudhury said, adding, “If action against him is not taken then amity and brotherhood between Hindus and Muslims in Assam will cease to exist”.
Another Gauhati HC advocate, Nekubur Zaman, said BJP should suspend Phukan for the comment.
“It’s both shameful and condemnable that an elected representative has compared the Muslims with cows that do not give milk. The BJP should immediately take action against him or else the comment will not go down well,” Zaman said.
Despite the criticism, Phukan has held his ground. “I didn’t tell a lie and I stand by it. It is an Assamese adage that a cow that doesn’t give milk shouldn’t be given fodder. So, what’s wrong in it?” argued the MLA.
He alleged that his statement was “misinterpreted”, but at the same time, he said the state’s BJP-led government had earmarked Rs.100 crore in the budget for minority development but it received no “output” from the community.
