A Guwahati court on Saturday asked the police to lodge a first information report (FIR) against Assam Chief Minister (CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma over inflammatory remarks in a speech he made last year.
In a speech, the BJP politician and Assam CM referred to acts of violence at an forced eviction drive in Assam, as an act of revenge. Two Muslims including a minor were killed by Police during the above said forced eviction drive on 23 September.
“The veracity of the allegations is not something which can be enquired prior to the registration of the FIR. By failing to even register the FIR, it appears that the police has failed in the discharge of its duty,” Kamrup Metro district Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate B Baruah said.
The complainant was Congress’s Abdul Khaleque, the Member of Parliament from Assam’s Barpeta constituency.
Khaleque sought the registration of an FIR against Sarma at the Dispur Police Station for offences under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The court directed the officer-in-charge of the Dispur Police Station to register an FIR, investigate the matter and submit a final-form at the earliest.
“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 in the complaint.
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.
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.
 against Assam Chief Minister (CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma over inflammatory remarks in a speech he made last year.){kind=link}