Hours after its MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed was arrested for making a ‘provocative’ statement related to the eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims in the Darrang district, the Assam Congress raked up Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s “communal remarks”.
Two people, including a minor, was killed in police firing during the eviction drive on September 23.
“We won’t shield anyone for any act that is against the law. But we cannot accept police inaction against BJP Ministers and lawmakers who have taken the law into their hands,” State unit president Bhupen Kumar Borah said after his party decided to take disciplinary action against Mr. Ahmed, who was arrested late Saturday night on several charges including sedition.
“Let the organisations targeting us also talk about the person who raised the ‘Jai Bangladesh’ slogan in the Assembly. Why was no action taken against the Chief Minister?” he asked.
As the Finance Minister, Dr. Sarma had in December 2019 shouted ‘Jai Bangladesh’ when some Opposition members protested the introduction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Assembly. An FIR was later filed against him.
Mr. Borah said the Constitution and the law have fixed accountability for the police. “Will the police function as dictated by the Ministers and the MLAs or the Police Act?” he asked.
The Congress was bombarded with criticism after Mr. Ahmed made an observation on eight Assamese youth who were killed during the anti-foreigners Assam Agitation in 1983 in the area where the September 23 eviction drive was carried out. He called the youths, revered as ‘martyrs’ by the indigenous communities, assassins.
After being sent to judicial custody by a local court, Mr. Ahmed demanded the arrest of Mr. Sarma for frequent communal remarks.
As organisations such as the All Assam Students’ Union burnt the Congress MLA’s effigy across the State, BJP legislator Diganta Kalita said he should be driven out of the State. He also said Mr. Ahmed, who represents the Baghbar constituency, was working in the interest of the ‘Miyas’ (Bengali Muslims) and not the Assamese.
