Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been conducting a higher order of Hindutva experiments in Assam than, say, Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh. Perhaps Sarma’s experiments have not been scrutinised because his methods are subtle. Or because the state’s smaller quota of 14 MPs in the Lok Sabha implies that happenings there cannot alter the constitutional idea of India.

Yet Sarma’s experiments are divisive. It is dangerous because Assam is a border State. For instance, Sarma recently declared that families with more than two children will be denied the benefits of certain government welfare schemes. But this norm, he said, will not apply to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and tea-garden workers. Sarma explained, “The root cause of issues like poverty, land encroachment, etc. lies in uncontrolled population growth… We can put an end to a lot of social problems if the Muslim community adopts decent family planning.”