Guwahati, May 7: The Assam government has launched preparatory steps for a caste census focused on the indigenous Muslim communities of the state, as announced by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

In a post on X, Sarma highlighted that these communities have long sought a caste-based census to assert their distinct socio-cultural identities.

He mentioned that groups such as the Goria, Moria, Deshi, Syed, and Jolha (Julha) Muslims of the Brahmaputra Valley, as well as the Kiren and Maimal Muslims of the Barak Valley, have maintained that while they share Islam as their religion, they also possess unique ethnic, linguistic, and cultural traits that differentiate them from migrant-origin or non-indigenous Muslim populations.