Action against intellectuals coercive, says CLP leader

GUWAHATI, Nov 18: ACLP chief and Leader of Opposition in Assam Legislative Assembly Debabrata Saikia has condemned the BJP-led government at Dispur for, what he said, using the police to ‘harass and intimidate’ six intellectuals, including Dr Hiren Gohain and Dr Apurba Baruah.

The duo took in a semir organized in the tiol capital by the Delhi Action Committee for Assam to debate the NRC issue. Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind president Maula Arshad Madani made certain controversial remarks on the likelihood of commul violence in Assam at the semir.

There is no prima facie evidence of the six intellectuals endorsing or even agreeing with Maula Madani’s comments, Saikia observed that the cases registered against them in different police stations and the prompt decision of the cops to interrogate them, stood out as another glaring example of the incumbent government’s undemocratic tendencies. “In a democratic set-up, how can you spread the blame to others for views expressed by a specific person in a public forum? This is blatant misuse of power and an attempt by the government to harass and intimidate its critics,” he said.

Saikia asserted that BJP’s double standards and dictatorial tendencies stood exposed from the fact that several of its leaders in Assam, including MLAs Shiladitya Deb and Mril Saikia, remained unpunished despite repeatedly making commully inflammatory statements.

Recalling the detention of KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi under the NSA, the Congress leader said that the BJP appeared to have adopted vindictiveness as its guiding policy.  Saikia, however, clarified that he and his party regarded Maula Madani’s reported comments on Assam as ‘uncalled for and condemble’.