Harsh Mander moves police over Assam CM’s remarks on Bengali-speaking Muslims

By A Representative 

Peace and justice worker and writer Harsh Mander has filed a police complaint against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over public statements made on January 27 at an official event in Digboi, Tinsukia district, alleging that the remarks promote hatred, harassment and discrimination against Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam. 

The complaint, submitted at the Hauz Khas Police Station in New Delhi, seeks registration of an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including Sections 196, 197, 299, 302 and 353, and calls for a prompt investigation and immediate steps to prevent similar statements as electoral roll revision processes continue in the state.

According to the complaint, Sarma referred to Bengali-speaking Muslims using the term “Miya,” described as derogatory in Assam, and made remarks encouraging harassment, social discrimination and the deletion of names from electoral rolls. Mander has alleged that the Chief Minister publicly admitted to directing members of his party to file complaints and objections during the voter list revision process against members of the community, including through the use of Form 7 objections. 

The complaint cites Sarma as saying that “four to five lakh Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision process and that “Himanta Biswa Sarma and the BJP are directly against Miyas,” while urging people to “trouble” them so that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam.”

The complaint further refers to Sarma’s statements to reporters at the Digboi event in which he asserted that it was his responsibility to cause hardship to the Miya community and said, in response to questions about notices issued during the ongoing claims and objections phase of electoral roll revision, that steps were being taken to ensure they could not vote in Assam. 

While the Election Commission is conducting a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing a Special Revision exercise. Referring to this distinction, Sarma stated that when a Special Intensive Revision is undertaken in Assam, “four to five lakh Miya votes will get deleted,” according to the complaint.

Mander has submitted the original Assamese transcript of the speech along with an English translation, as well as video recordings that have circulated widely online and been reported by several media outlets. The complaint states that the remarks threaten communal harmony, public order and the constitutional rights of the affected community, including their right to vote and livelihood, and amount to incitement to discrimination and hostility. 

It further alleges that the statements constitute a grave threat to constitutional values, given that they were made by a sitting Chief Minister at an official event, and argues that the disclosure of cognisable offences makes registration of an FIR mandatory under law.