Congress' Debabrata Saikia appeals state Legislative Assembly speaker to take action after BJP MLA Prasanta Phukan's 'communal' remarks

Guwahati, May 2, 2019:

Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia on Friday made an appeal to the speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly to take appropriate action against Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan for his remarks on the Muslim community of the state as “cows that do not yield milk”.

In the letter, Debabrata Saikia stated that Prasanta Phukan, unequivocally termed the Muslim community of Assam as “cows that do not yield milk” because according to him, 90 percent of the community did not vote for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.

“Phukan further stated that the government should not work for the welfare of the Muslims because ‘there is no benefit in providing fodder to cows that do not yield milk’. In other words, Phukan has publicly singled out the Muslims of Assam and denigrated them as unproductive cattle. The Constitution of India and the laws of the land prohibit abuse of any religious group,” it stated.

Saikia in his letter further mentioned that the Constitution of India guarantees the Fundamental Right to Equality to all citizens without discrimination on the basis of religion or other factors.

"As such, we should not condone such communally divisive and hate-filled comments by an elected legislator who has sworn to protect and uphold the Constitution", he said.