Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
A Guwahati court recently directed the police to register a case against the Chief Minister of Assam, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma for his inflammatory remarks during last year’s eviction drive in Garukhuti village in the state’s Darrang district.
Assam CM Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma had allegedly called the eviction drive an “act of revenge”. Based on the petition filed by Congress Lok Sabha MP Abdul Khaleque, the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate court directed the Dispur police station to register a case against the Assam CM.
In his complaint, MP Khaleque stated that CM Sarma had said that the eviction drive in Garukhuti was a ‘revenge’ for the incidents of 1983 when some youths there were killed during the Assam Agitation. He approached the court alleging inaction from the police as they did not register an FIR against the CM.
According to the court order from Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate Biswadeep Baruah, as reported by NDTV, the officer-in-charge of Dispur police station was directed to register a case against CM Sarma.
The order read, “The OC Dispur police station is directed to register a case on the allegations mentioned in the complaint and investigate the matter fairly and to submit the Final Form at the earliest.”
It added, “The police had failed in the discharge of its duty by failing to register the FIR. The veracity of the allegations is not something which can be enquired prior to the registration of the FIR. By failing to even register the FIR, it appears that the police has failed in the discharge of its duty.”
The state government’s eviction drive to remove “illegal encroachers” at Garukhuti in Assam’s Darrang district had turned violent leaving two people including a 12-year-old dead.
The Congress MP accused CM Sarma of making communal statements against a particular community to justify the eviction drive that left more than 7,000 people homeless.
MP Khaleque stated in his complaint, “The eviction drive had seen "brutal killings" as well as homes being "burnt to the ground. By calling the horrendous acts (deaths of two civilians) as revenge, Sarma has not only justified the killings and arson committed there, the legality of which is sub-judice before the Hon'ble Gauhati High Court, but he has gone far ahead and communalised the whole exercise -- the target of which, was the Muslim population living there.”
