Assam MLA held for ‘communal speech’
GUWAHATI: An opposition legislator in Assam was arrested early on Tuesday for allegedly making provocative, communal and false statements over Covid-19 and the treatment of patients in the state.
Aminul Islam, the Dhing MLA of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), allegedly said in an audio clip that there was a conspiracy to target Muslims under the garb of Covid-19 and those in quarantine may be killed.
Police picked him up from his residence in Dhing Monday evening and arrested him the next morning after interrogation. “Islam has been arrested under various sections of IPC for charges including criminal conspiracy and spreading disaffection among the communities,” Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said.
Islam was produced in a local court in Nagaon and was sent to 14-day judicial custody.
According to reports, the MLA has admitted to the police that the voice in the audio clip was his. A government release stated that he was arrested because of the “communal and false comments” made in the clip.
The MLA has been booked under sections 120(B)-criminal conspiracy, 124A-sedition, 153Apromoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth,among others.
In the past few days, Islam has made several posts on social media platforms, questioning the government’s handling of Covid-19 patients and those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi last month. There are 26 positive Covid-19 cases in Assam and 25 of them are linked to the Jamaat event.
They are all being treated in several government hospitals across the state.
In the controversial clip (which HT has accessed), Islam purportedly said, “The quarantine centres are worse that detention centres .... ” HTimes could not verify the authenticity of the clip.
Assam has six detention centres to keep those declared foreigners by foreigners’ tribunals.
“I fear that these people in quarantine may be killed with some lethal injection and the authorities will claim they died due to coronavirus. There is conspiracy going on to show that these people brought the virus from Nizamuddin Markaz, and kill them inside quarantine facilities,” the MLA allegedly said.
“Islam’s comments at such a time are unfortunate, but those are not the party’s official stand and are his personal views. Hope the government also takes action against elected representatives from other parties who have made sensitive comments about the present situation,” said Md Aminul Islam, general secretary (organisation) AIUDF.