Assam: The Prabhajan Virodhi Manch, an anti-migrant body in Assam filed a complaint against The Hindu editor Suresh Nambath and two researchers in connection with an article and a blog written on a recent eviction drive in the state.
On September 23, two civilians including a 12-year-old child were killed in police firing during an eviction drive in Assam’s Darrang district. The villages that were issued eviction notices were mainly home to Muslims of Bengali origin.
The Prabhajan Virodhi Manch, which filed the complaint at the Latasil police station in Guwahati, describes itself as an “anti-infiltrator forum” on Facebook. The group aims to drive out all undocumented migrants from Assam.
Of the articles the group objected to, one was written by Suraj Gogoi, a research scholar at the National University of Singapore, and was published in The Hindu. The other was written and published by Angshuman Choudhury, senior researcher at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, on his blog.
In their complaint, the Prabhajan Virodhi Manch claimed that Gogoi’s article in The Hindu “had many instances of offensive speech being made against Assam and the larger Assamese community”.
The complaint also alleged that Angshuman Choudhury made criminally motivated statements comparing Bijay Bania, the Darrang district’s photographer, to 17-century military commander Lachit Borphukan. The group claimed that the reference was an “attempt to give provocation to cause riot”.
Bijay Bania was seen in a video jumping on a man lying motionless on the ground. The man who had been attacked was identified as Moinul Haque.
After being trolled online, Choudhury had later edited his article to remove the reference to Lachit Borphukan. On his blog, he had also added that the deleted sentence was meant to be a metaphorical analogy, but was taken literally.
In the past, the Prabhajan Virodhi Manch have often urged the government to remove “illegal encroachers” from the Assam’s Sipajhar area, which they claim has been occupied by “illegal Bangladeshis”.
Sipajhar was where the violent eviction drive was held late last month. Most people living in these areas are Muslims of Bengali origin. Sipajhar has witnessed similar eviction drives in the past, in 2016 and 2017.
Opinions in the region have been divided over undocumented migrants, especially after the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in December 2019. The Act allows migrants of six religions, but not Muslims, to apply for Indian citizenship.
Regarding the CAA, the Prabhajan Virodhi Manch had urged the BJP-led Assam government to “put the interests of the state above its own” and adopt an “uncompromising stand” on issues of indigenous identity. Scroll. In
