Social media posts after Red Fort blast see Assam carry out a crackdown last witnessed in Pahalgam aftermath

In the crackdown following the Pahalgam attack, the Assam Police had arrested at least 97 people over two months for posts and comments ranging from those that supported Pakistan and others deemed offensive to Hindus to ones suggesting that the attack was a “conspiracy” linked to elections. Several of those arrested had been slapped with section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to “acts endangering the sovereignty unity and integrity of India”, a charge similar to “sedition” under the earlier Indian Penal Code (IPC).

This time, too, the arrests are being made along similar lines. Following the blast in Delhi, Wajhul Kamal, a resident of Rangiya in Kamrup district, put up a Facebook post claiming that terror attacks always take place when elections are around the corner. A police official from Kamrup district confirmed that he was arrested for the now-deleted post and that he had been booked under BNS section 152 and section 147 (waging war, attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war against the Indian government), among other charges.

A remark along similar lines had been made by Matiur Rahman, a resident of Darrang district, in a comment on a post about the Delhi blast, and he too was arrested on Wednesday.

The Assam government has suggested that these arrests will continue.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Wednesday that his government “identified” 34 people and that he has issued instructions to the police to arrest those “who are expressing support to terrorists”.

“After the Delhi blast, you have understood one thing — education doesn’t mean that somebody won’t be a terrorist. All these days in our Legislative Assembly, it was being said that because they are falling behind in education, they are being used for different purposes. But we have seen from the events in Delhi that these were not done by uneducated people, but educated people have done jihad. And after educated people have done jihad, instead of condemning, one section of people in Assam have been putting smileys and thumbs-up and expressing support in various ways,” the CM said.