Sarma raised questions on the Makka gate of the university
The university is being run by a foundation founded by a Bengali Muslim named Mahbubul Haque. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday continued his attack against the University of Science and Technology (USTM) of Meghalaya, saying the architecture of the building resembles ‘Mecca’, one of the holiest sites in Islam. Days after accusing the university of waging “flood jihad”, Sarma said the institution was destroying education and the domed gate was a sign of ‘jihad’.
Earlier this month, Himanta Biswa Sarma had blamed the ongoing construction work at the university for the flash floods in Guwahati. He said the university, located in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district, was under construction due to deforestation and hillock cutting, which led to the flash floods.
Himanta Biswa Sarma had blamed the ongoing construction wor
Referring to the three domes above the main gate of the university, the university is being run by a foundation started by a Bengali Muslim named Mahbubul Haque. The latter is the chancellor of the university. Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that it resembles Mecca and Medina.
It is embarrassing to go there, you have to go under the ‘Mecca’. What we are saying is that there should also be a Namghar (community prayer hall, part of Assam’s neo-Vaishnavite tradition). ‘Mecca-Medina’, church. Make all three. They have put a ‘Mecca’ there. Let them build a Namghar, let them build a church. We will walk under all three, why will we walk under just one,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying.
Father of Jihad
Sarma drew parallels between his statements and those of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who had earlier blamed Jorabat for the recurring floods in Guwahati. When I spoke about the Meghalaya University of Science and Technology (USTM), everyone criticised me. But before that, Tarun Gogoi had said that Jorabat is the main reason for floods in Guwahati.
Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the hills were cut not towards Meghalaya, but towards Guwahati. Why were the hills cut not towards Meghalaya, but towards Guwahati? Is this not flood jihad? Last week, speaking on X, Sarma posted satellite images of Meghalaya’s Greater Jorabat Hills and said, After the recent floods in Guwahati, we have asked the city to evacuate people from the city. I have seen satellite images of Greater Jorabat Hills in Meghalaya, located 6-7 km away.
The deforestation in the area where USTM University is located is evident in itself. But my concern is not limited to the area around USTM. Below is a time-lapse video of the destruction in other areas of Greater Jorabat Hills in Meghalaya. It also shows how cloudbursts here lead to flash floods in Guwahati, as happened recently. We will work together with the Meghalaya government to protect our shared habitats.
Guwahati teachers should stop going there
If from tomorrow, students of Guwahati stop studying and teachers of Guwahati stop going there, then Guwahati flooding will stop, I have given a letter to (Meghalaya CM) Conrad Sangma and I will also meet him. But I don’t know how much they can do after listening to us because the damage has already been done.
The solution is that if our students stop going there then these buildings will close and trees will start growing. The solution to some things is economic. Economic answers should be given. Then many things get fixed. USTM is promoted by the Education Research and Development Foundation, which was founded by Mahbubul Haque. Haque is also the chancellor of the university established in 2008.
Green technologies like energy generation
The university claimed that it has taken various initiatives to implement green technologies and installations like water harvesting, groundwater recharge and solar energy generation. The university further said that its campus area is a small part of the Baridua area till Jorabat and it regularly conducts afforestation drives to increase the green cover by planting trees in and around the campus. The campus has water harvesting plants and five large natural reservoirs where rainwater is stored.
The USTM campus gives perhaps a small portion of the total water that flows from Killing Road to GS Road through various drains on both sides of the road,” said USTM, which stressed that its contribution to the overall water flow in the area is minimal.
Conclusion
After Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, known for his Islamophobic statements, hit out at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), a private institution located on the outskirts of Guwahati, claiming that the Muslim-owned university was carrying out “flood jihad”, the university released a statement refuting his claims.
On Friday, CM Sarma blamed USTM, which is located in the neighboring state’s Ri-Bhoi district, where the Meghalaya hills descend into Guwahati at Jorabat, for the floods. Sarma claimed that felling of trees for the construction of the university contributed to the floods in Guwahati and called on Assamese students there to boycott the institution.
