‘I was in prison for 218 days for questioning the central govt’: Assam MLA Aminul Islam returns to Assembly

Speaking to reporters outside the assembly building, he said his detention was an act of “vengeance by the state government”.

“I was in prison for 218 days and was released yesterday. I had just raised a question of the central government – how could terrorists from Pakistan enter such a sensitive tourist place like Pahalgam in the absence of security and shoot 26, 28 people and leave? That was my statement. For that, an FIR was registered against me. If the central government failed to secure the life of Indian citizens, as an opposition MLA, am I supposed to question the India government, the Sri Lanka government or the South Africa government? Who is accountable?” he said.

“In any case, an FIR was registered against me… After that, I was given bail by a lower court in Nagaon after 15 days. But the state government didn’t let me go, and that day itself, they sent an order that I have to be arrested under the National Security Act,” he said.

“Whether I am right or wrong will be determined by the courts, but the government detained me with completely political motivations. The reason is that I am very vocal in the assembly, which exposes the government. Taking this chance, the government took this revenge on me,” he said.

Islam was arrested on April 24 on charges that included section 152 of the BNS for statements in a political rally suggesting that the attack was a “conspiracy” by the central BJP government. Section 152 of the BNS pertains to “acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”, a charge similar to “sedition” under the IPC.

He was the first of 58 people from across the state who were arrested for social media posts in a campaign “to detain Pakistan supporters”, declared by the Assam government after the Pahalgam terror attack. He was granted bail by a district court judge on May 14, but was detained under the NSA the same day. An order by the Nagaon DC had cited a report from the district SP that Islam “has been engaging in activities prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and the security of the state”.

He was released on Friday night after the Gauhati High Court quashed his NSA detention orders and ordered his release owing to an unexplained delay by authorities in dealing with his representation against his detention and to his not being informed of his right to represent to the Central Government until only after the Central Government reminded the state government of the same.