Hitting out at Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his “Hussain Obama” tweet, the Congress accused him of “openly threatening” minorities in India of “dire consequences” and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs to explain their stand on his remarks. “There are many Hussain Obama in India itself. We should prioritize taking care of them before considering going to Washington. The Assam police will act according to our own priorities,” Sarma said in a Twitter post, responding to a sarcastic jibe at him by a journalist over former US President Barack Obama’s remarks on protection of Muslim minority in India. “If President (Joe Biden) meets with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, the protection of Muslim minority in a majority Hindu India is something worth mentioning,” Obama had said in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Referring to Obama’s remarks, journalist Rohini Singh had asked: “Has an FIR (has) been filed in Guwahati yet against Obama for hurting sentiment (and) Is Assam police on its way to Washington to get Obama offloaded from some flight and arrest him?”. She was apparently referring to the deplaning and arrest of Congress media department chairman Pawan Khera in February on charges of using “objectionable words” against Prime Minister Modi. Khera was deplaned from flight to Raipur where he was headed to attend the AICC plenary session. Delhi Police officers had then said that they had received a request from Assam Police for assistance in arresting the Congress leader in the case lodged at the Dima Hasao police station in Haflong district. Khera was subsequently arrested by the investigating officer of Assam Police. In the interview, Obama had said that if he had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi, a part of his argument would be that if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, there is a strong possibility that India, at some point, starts pulling apart. “And we have seen what happens when you start getting (into) large internal conflicts… That would be contrary to the interests not only of the Muslim India, but also Hindu India. I think it’s important to be able to talk about these things honestly,” he had said. The Congress slammed Sarma. “Here’s the Chief Minister of Assam, sworn to the Constitution of India openly threatening Minorities of dire consequences and not even sparing Mr Modi’s friend Barack in the process - declaring him Hussain Obama ! @himantabiswa , are you being your usual self - a hateful bigot or are you actually conspiring to undermine the Prime Minister while he asserted the complete opposite in White House yesterday,” Congress general secretary in charge of Assam Jitendra Singh said in a Twitter post. “Although such remarks are always unacceptable, Chief Minister, Assam making such remarks while the PM is in the USA is extremely shabby for India's image abroad especially when a lot of the conversation is about India's questionable treatment of its minorities,” said senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi. The Congress’s social media and digital platforms head Supriya Shrinate asked the Government to explain its position on Sarma’s remarks. “‘My friend Barack’ is now Hussain Obama! Actually Himanta has answered what PM Modi was asked at White House. His insinuation - about President Obama being a muslim and Indian Muslims needing to be taught a lesson - was the question’s premise. What is the PM, MEA and Govt of India’s stand on this?” she said in a Twitter post.
