FIR filed against Himanta Biswa Sarma at Rangiya

Guwahati, 23 January 2019:

An FIR has been filed against Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at Rangiya police station on Tuesday evening for his alleged communal comments.

The FIR against the minister was filed by Kanihar Hareswar Barman, a local resident of Rangiya.

The incident took place when Sarma made a few communal remarks following a group of activists from Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and Asom Jatiyabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) waved black flags at him in multiple places for two consecutive days to show their stand against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The minister specified two Muslim KMSS and AJYCP activists, Fidous and Akhtarul, by questioning their identity and for trying to plot against Hindu organizations and ideology, thus giving it a communal twist.

Barman said, “These types of communal remarks are not expected from a prominent politician like Sarma. He is trying to polarize the situation and is creating a rift in the State among religions. People like Akhtarul and Firdous are as indigenous as Sarma and their forefathers have been here even before the minister’s. So it is wrong to question to their identity.”

However, no case has been yet filed over the FIR which is a familiar scenario in Assam as police and authorities have always been hesitant to file cases against the influential minister who has pile of FIRs previously lodged against him.

Previously on January 18, another FIR was lodged against Sarma by the Barpeta District Youth Congress (BDYC) over alleged communal remarks he had made at a talk show on January 16.

Anuwarul Islam Khan, President of the body, had alleged that Sarma had made “unconstitutional, communal, false and illegal statements.”