Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is trying to instigate situations which caused a massacre in the state in 1983 and said that the government will deploy a massive Commando Battalion if it sees any unrest during the Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay yatra.
Rahul Gandhi along with other Congress leaders are in Assam with the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and they have announced that on Monday, they’ll visit the historic Batadrava Than, the birthplace of the great Assamese saint and social reformer Srimanta Sankaradeva.
Sarma on Sunday said that Rahul Gandhi deliberately chose to stay in Morigaon and surrounding areas where Muslim population is more than 60%.
“We are trying to keep a peaceful atmosphere during Ram Lalla’s Pran Pratishtha moment (at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya) but Rahul Gandhi is trying to instigate communities. We’ll deploy a heavy amount of Commando Battalion there if we see unrest,” Sarma said.
The Nellie massacre took place in Assam’s Morigaon district (now Nagaon) on February 18, 1983 where around 2,000 people, mostly Bengali-speaking muslims, were killed amid the anti-foreigner agitation. According to the reports published in leading newspapers during that period, it was instigated when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi desired to give right to vote to a section of migrants.
The Congress party on Saturday claimed that the Assam Government is trying to create problems against their yatra and that they have lodged police complaints unnecessarily.
Responding to this, Sarma said that all the necessary permissions have been given for the Yatra and he cancelled some of his pre-scheduled events to give them space.
“I only asked them to avoid Guwahati because there are medical colleges. If they violate rules, we’ll register a case against them. What more they expect, should I arrange people for their rally now?” Sarma said.
On Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Batadrava Than, Sarma said that they don’t want the television screens to be divided between Ram Lalla and Srimanta Sankaradeva.
“Rahul Gandhi is trying to use Srimanta Sankaradeva and Assamese culture against the Ram Temple. We won’t allow him to put Assam in a bad light. He is going to Batadrava Than on Monday, but he wasn’t invited. He may go there any other day, why on Monday? Because he wants to create a division,” Sarma said.
Congress general secretary in charge of communication Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said that they sought permission for conducting rallies in Nagaon almost a month ago.
“Since Rahul Gandhi will be passing through that route, he decided to visit Batadrava Than, the birthplace of the great Srimanta Sankaradeva. There is nothing political about it. We don’t understand why Himanta gets hyper with everything we do,” he said.
Ramesh also claimed that his vehicle was attacked by BJP cadres under the influence of Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Sharing a video, he wrote on X, “My vehicle was attacked a few minutes ago at Jumugurihat, Sunitpur by an unruly BJP crowd who also tore off the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra stickers from the windshield. They threw water and shouted anti-BJNY slogans. But we kept our composure, waved to the hooligans and sped away. This is undoubtedly the Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma doing. We are not intimidated and will soldier on.”
Responding to this, Himanta wrote, “Please register a case and Assam DGP will enquire into the allegations.”
The Congress on Saturday also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s youth workers vandalised the posters of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and added that the party willlodge a first information report (FIR) against them. The party also shared a video of the incident on their social media handle.
However, Assam director general of police (DGP), Gyanendra Pratap Singh, said that nobody targeted the Congress’s Yatra. “There has been no targeting of any vehicle of any political party, less so of the Yatra. Assam Police has made elaborate arrangements for security and L&O (law and order) for the Yatra throughout the state,” the DGP said on his official X handle.
Responding to this, the Assam CM on Sunday said that the posters were removed by the common people and not by BJP cadres. “Who would like to have a Rahul Gandhi poster in front of his house, people will stop visiting that house in such cases. People don’t like Rahul, so they removed the posters, they have the right to do it,” Sarma said.
The Assam Congress on Sunday said that the Yatra has returned from Arunachal Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi met leaders of the opposition parties in Assam on Sunday. The party that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will join the Yatra in Assam on Sunday evening.
(With inputs from agencies)