Assam Congress MP Abdul Khaleque on Wednesday has filed a police complaint against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for justifying September’s forced eviction drive in Darrang district, police killing of two Muslims, and making statements against Muslims.
Khaleque said that Sarma, while giving a speech on 10 December in Assam’s Morigaon town, had said that Darrang evictions were revenge for the massacre and protests of 1983.
“And by calling the unfortunate events at Gorkhuti [in Darrang] an act of revenge’ for 1983, the Hon’ble Chief Minister is giving wanton provocation to people to commit further acts of rioting against the particular community of the state. Through such malignant and provocative utterances, the Hon’ble Chief Minister is intending to cause disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill-will towards the Muslim population of Assam,” Khaleque said.
On September 23, the forced eviction drive in the Sipajhar area of Darrang district had turned violent and two Muslims including a 12-year-old child were killed in police firing. The Muslims of Bengali origin who were protesting against the eviction, brutally attacked by the BJP government’s police.
Khaleque urged the police to lodge a first information report under the Indian Penal Code Sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) against Sarma.
According to Congress leader, Sarma had constantly targeted Muslims in the aftermath of the Darrang’s forced evictions.
Chief minister’s hate “manifested in the egregious acts of a government-hired photographer,” who stomped on the body of one of the persons killed by the police, said Khaleque.
He went on to say: “The chief minister of a state has the constitutional obligation to protect its citizens irrespective of caste, creed or religion. Instead of doing so and preserving the social fabric of our beloved state, the Hon’ble Chief Minister is aggravating the situation through his vindictive hate-mongering.”
Since May this year, soon after BJP’s Himanta Biswa Sarma took over as chief minister of Assam, at least 31 men have been killed while in police custody or in alleged shootouts with the police. Out of the 30 people identified, 14 were Muslims.
