‘He could start a riot’: Opposition leaders file police complaint against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

In it, leaders accused Sarma of “criminal conspiracy” to create unrest in the state, saying there could be a “riot-like situation” in the state unless he is “arrested or restrained”. They have requested that an FIR be registered against him for criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity between different groups of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.  This comes amidst inter-community tensions in many parts of Assam, which escalated after the alleged gangrape of a 14-year-old girl in Nagaon district on August 22.  Sarma and several of his ministers have termed the incident, in which the accused are Bengali-Muslims, an “attack on the indigenous”. The complaint makes a mention of the incident, as well as the ongoing communal tensions in Sivasagar district.

“You might be aware that the entire Assam is erupting in anger against dastardly act of rape committed on a young lady from Dhing [in Nagaon]. Taking advantage of such heinous act (sic) the accused person is trying to whip up communal frenzy by targeting a particular community, which had led to (an) attack on some people belonging to (the) religious minority in Sivasagar (district) by BJP workers and leaders,” the complaint said. It further adds: “This has been done as part of a conspiracy to create a riot-like situation in the state and the accused named Himanta Biswa Sarma and other BJP leaders are part of the criminal conspiracy to create such unrest”. Sarma, according to the complainants, has a “history of making provocative statements targeting a particular community”, referring to the chief minister’s remarks last year that he would “clear” Guwahati’s footpaths of “Miya” vegetable vendors.

“Miya” is a pejorative term used for Bengali-Muslims. The complaint also referred to an incident from last week in which the CM took a swipe at a reporter over his religious identity. “One year back, he had implored people to evict people belonging to a religious community (he termed them as ‘Miya’) from Guwahati. Continuing his tirade against the religious minority the accused person on 4-8-2024 targeted a journalist named Shah Alom with obvious communal innuendos,” the complaint states. It also referred to the chief minister’s statement that the Nagaon incident was part of a “bigger intention of grabbing land and threatening the identity of the Assamese people”. “Such continuous rants in public have the potential to create disharmony between different communities… If such a person is not arrested and restrained immediately, he can create a riot-like situation in the state for getting political mileage out of it,” states the complaint.