AIMPLB calls for suo motu SC action over Assam CM’s hate speech
New Delhi: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has strongly condemned the “open and unconstitutional incitement” by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, publicly calling for the harassment, disenfranchisement, and economic boycott of Muslims in the state.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the board urged the Supreme Court of India to take immediate suo motu cognisance of the matter, warning that such statements pose a grave threat to constitutional governance and social peace.
In a sharply worded statement, AIMPLB spokesperson Dr SQR Ilyas said that hate speech against Muslims was no longer confined to the ruling BJP ‘s fringe elements but had become “normalised and institutionalised” within the ruling establishment.
He said the latest controversy arose from remarks reportedly made by Himanta Biswa Sarma at a government function in Tinsukia, where he allegedly called for sustained harassment of the ‘Miyan’ community, a derogatory term commonly used for Bengali-speaking Muslims, so that they are “forced to leave Assam.” According to the AIMPLB, Sarma went further by declaring that causing hardship to this community was his “responsibility” as chief minister.
More alarmingly, the AIMPLB said Sarma publicly encouraged citizens to file Form-7 — a provision meant for objections to electoral rolls — to remove four to five lakh Muslims from the voter list, and simultaneously issued a call for their economic boycott. Muslims constitute around 35 percent in the tribal dominated Assam which goes to the polls in mid-year.
The board warned that if constitutional authorities, particularly the Election Commission of India, succumb to political pressure or fail to resist such unlawful calls, the credibility of free and fair elections would be irreparably damaged.
The board has also urged the President of India to initiate appropriate constitutional action against the Assam chief minister for what it termed “dangerous and divisive” remarks.
