Congress Lok Sabha Member from Barpeta Abdul Khaleq on Wednesday filed a complaint at Dispur Police Station against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allegedly making communal statements against the “Muslim community” justifying the September eviction drive at Gorukhuti in Darrang district.
Khaleque filed the complaint under sections 153 (abetment to cause riot), 153A (enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, caste, place of birth, residence, language, etc.) of the Indian Penal Code. Requested to register an FIR under other sections including abetting it.
Assam Chief Minister has become the Chief violator of the Constitution & the rule of law. He is destroying the social fabric of Assam
— Abdul Khaleque (@MPAbdulKhaleque) December 29, 2021
I have lodged an FIR against the CM at Dispur PS for his speech in Morigaon where he termed the Gorukhuti incident as an act of revenge pic.twitter.com/zT45YdlbqN
A senior police official said that they have received the complaint but the FIR is yet to be registered as “it is still in the investigation stage”.
The Congress leader alleged that the Chief Minister had said on December 10 that the eviction drive at Gorukhuti was a “revenge” for the events of 1983 (the killing of some youth there during the Assam agitation). “By betraying his oath on the Constitution, Hon’ble Chief Minister Dr. Sarma has maliciously given a communal hue to what was considered an executive exercise,” the complaint said.
About 1,200-1,400 houses were demolished on September 20 and 23 in Dhalpur 1, 2 and 3 villages of Gorukhuti, leaving more than 7,000 people homeless. Along with this, bulldozers were also run on the village markets, mosques, graveyards, madrassas and maqtabs (place of reading and writing).
The anti-encroachment operation went off peacefully on the first day, though it faced strong opposition from the locals on the second day, during which two people, including a 12-year-old child, were killed in police firing on September 23. During this, 20 people including policemen were also injured.
The complaint states, “While calling such heinous acts as vengeance, Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma has not only justified the killings and arson there, the legality of which is sub judice before the Hon’ble Gauhati High Court, but he goes further They increased and communalized the whole exercise – targeting the Muslim population living there. Khalek alleged that “large-scale human rights violations” in Gorukhuti preceded Sarma’s several statements.
Khaleque said, “The hatred created by the honorable Chief Minister’s constant defamation of the Muslim community was manifested in the heinous acts of a citizen.”
The MP said a government photographer had shown aggression by jumping on the body of a man breathing his last after being shot by the police.
In the complaint, he said, “And by terming the unfortunate incidents in Gorukhuti as ‘revenge’ for 1983, the honorable Chief Minister is instigating people against a particular community of the state.”
