April 22, 2022: In a very controversial statement, Assam MLA and a former Assam Minister Siddharth Bhattacharjya said on Friday (April 22) that the Assamese cultural festival of Bihu is a‘Hindu’ festival and people from the Muslim community attend the festival as guests.

Bihu is a cultural, agricultural festival of Assam and traditionally there has been no religious connotation to the festival, the main festival of Assam and the Assamese people. Over the years, people of Assam, irrespective of their religion, caste and creed have been celebrating Bihu together. Even Assamese Muslim families celebrate Bihu with the same fervour and tradition.

The MLA further said, “there is no difference between Hanuman Jayanti and Bihu”.

Hanuman Jayanti is a religious festival. Prayers are held at Hindu homes and temples and Hanuman temples to pray to Lord Hanuman who was one of the principle disciples of Lord Ram and his wife Sita.

During Bihu, on the other hand, it’s mostly song, dance and other cultural performances and feasting that is part of the Bihu celebrations. No prayers, kirtans or pujas are held during Bihu except few people performing kirtan or prayers to mark the new year.

The MLA made these comments while going to cast his vote for the Guwahati Municipal Corporation elections.