Janagosthiya Samannay Parishad, Asom, chief convener Sayed Mominul Awal on Wednesday appealed to 42 lakh indigenous Muslim people of the state to add identical ethnic names after their surnames through affidavits.

Awal, who is also chairman of the Assam State Minority Welfare Board, said, “I will add Goria after my surname on Thursday through an affidavit as I belong to the greater Goria Muslim community. Hence, I will be known as Sayed Mominul Awal Goria from Thursday. I also appeal to these four communities to do the same. This will help the government to identify who are indigenous and who are Bangladeshi migrants among the Muslims,” he said.

The Assam government on Tuesday discussed the issues of indigenous Muslim communities of Goria, Moria, Desi and Jolah of tea tribes and assured them to create a corporation soon to carry out their socio-economic census to chalk out proper policies for their development.

Welcoming the efforts of the state government, Awal said, “It was a commitment made in the last budget. The state government earmarked Rs 100 crore for the corporation, of which Rs 2 crore was released for preliminary work and the rest will be released after the formation of the corporation.”

Alleging the Congress and the AIUDF have been attempting to settle illegal immigrants without understanding the history of migration, he said, “The Congress and the AIUDF have become Bangladeshi Muslim parties. They do not know about indigenous Muslims of the state.”

“I appeal to all the indigenous Muslim communities to remain alert so that no Bangladeshi Muslim can add Goria, Moria, Desi or Jolah after their surnames to identify themselves with these communities,” Awal said.

He stressed that these four indigenous Muslim communities contributed and sacrificed for every cause of the state from the Ahom era to the contemporary Assam Movement.

Awal also appealed to the state government to create a separate development council for Deshi Muslims besides appealing to the four communities to extend full cooperation to the proposed socio-economic survey.

Awal said the state government was also gearing up to talk with the representatives of various ethnic Muslim communities in Barak Valley to safeguard their indigenous rights and privileges.