‘Miya Bihu’ singer arrested; Attempts to change our Bihu songs will not be accepted: Himanta

Guwahati. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that a singer has been arrested for trying to popularise ‘Miya Bihu’. He said that no Assamese person will tolerate any attempt to make their traditional Bihu songs ‘very different’. Sharma said in a post on Facebook late Saturday night, “Some people are trying to popularise ‘Miya Bihu’. One such singer Altaf Hussain has been arrested by the police today.” In a 2.27 minute video clip shared by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Sharma stressed that as long as Assamese society survives, it will do so with respect. He said, “We will not tolerate any attack on our social system. And there should not be any such attempts to attack us either.” The Chief Minister said that no Assamese person will accept any attempt to present culture, heritage, food, songs, dance forms in a ‘very different way’. He said, “If our Gaurav Bihu songs are changed to ‘Miya Bihu’, which Assamese will accept it?” Miya is basically a derogatory term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam and non-Bengali-speaking people generally consider them to be Bangladeshi migrants.