Guwahati, Jan. 17: The Planning Commission will promote Assam’s unique tradition of communal harmony in the rest of India.

Syeda Hameed, a member of the Planning Commission, said in her keynote address at a national symposium on “Muslims in Assam, Challenges and Opportunities” here here today, that she was moved by the unity and peaceful co-existence of Hindus and Muslims in Assam which is rare in other parts of the country.

“During my visits to Assam, I came to know about the ideals of the 15th Century Vaishnavite saint Srimanta Sankardeva which embrace all religions and communities. I also heard about Ajan Peer, a Muslim mystic who came to Assam from the Arab world to preach Islam blended with humanism and universal brotherhood propagated by Sankardeva. Teachings of these two great souls are sill inspiring the people of Assam to lead a life of peaceful co-existence,” she said.

Referring to misinterpretation of Islam and how a large number of people from the community live under the shadow of being tagged as terrorists, Hameed said if the state government and reputed social organisations come with a proposal to propagate Sankardeva and Azan Peer’s ideals in the country, the Planning Commission would support the move.

She told newspersons that the commission would include Assam’s proposal for funding in the Twelfth Plan (2012-13).

Hameed, a prolific scholar and firebrand advocate of the rights of Muslims, said the commission was having a series of consultations on the challenges and problems faced by Muslims in Assam and other parts of India at different quarters and would include these in the approach paper for the Twelfth Plan.

Speaking at the symposium, chief minister Tarun Gogoi said the tradition of communal harmony was age-old and when there were riots during the country’s partition, Assam was relatively calm.

Admitting that the state faced problems of influx of Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Gogoi said the issue must not be blown out of proportion and communalised.

“Who is not migrant? Even I am a migrant to Assam since my forefathers came from China. Migration is a natural phenomenon.”

The two-day long symposium had two sessions today on Chord of Harmony: Co-existence in Assam and Natives and Aliens: Muslims and Politics of Migration in Assam.