Assam Opposition MLA Arrested For Sedition After Alleging State Conspiracy ‘To Kill Muslims, Blame Their Death On Coronavirus’ 

A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Assam, belonging to the Opposition All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), was arrested on Tuesday on charges of sedition and creating communal discord after his incendiary remarks on social media.

In an audio recording that he circulated on social media, Aminul Islam, who represents the Dhing constituency in Nagaon district of central Assam, is heard saying that the quarantine centres set up in the state are worse than detention centers that house illegal migrants.

Islam, who is known for his intemperate and communal remarks, is also heard in the audio clip as saying that the Assam government was targeting Muslims, especially those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Delhi’s Nizamuddin.

The legislator alleged that doctors and staff at the quarantine centres were harassing the Nizamuddin returnees and administering injections to them.

“I think these are lethal injections meant to kill the quarantined Muslims and pass off their deaths as due to coronavirus,” he is heard saying in the audio clip.

Islam also said that the coronavirus pandemic is a hype created to target Muslims and eliminate them. “There is a conspiracy to show that these (Tablighi Jamaat) people brought the virus from Nizamuddin markaz and then kill them inside the quarantine centres,” he said.

The MLA has been booked under Section 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 153 (A) (promoting religious enmity), 124 (A) (sedition) and 295 (A) (act to outrage religious feelings). He was called in for questioning on Monday evening and formally arrested on Tuesday. He was produced before a court on Tuesday and remanded in 14-day judicial custody.

Nagaon Superintendent of Police Gaurav Abhijit Dileep said that the MLA has confessed that the voice in the audio clip was his.

“Examination of the audio clip proved that it contains some communal statements, which could trigger communal tension. The clip also raises question marks on the Government of India, Constitution and the secular fabrics of the country. So he was arrested subsequently for further action as per law,” the police officer said.

Assam has reported 28 coronavirus positive cases so far, and 27 of them had attended the Nizamuddin Markaz. A total of 831 people from Assam attended the markaz, and a little over 500 have been traced and put into quarantine facilities.

The Assam government had issued a stern warning two days ago to all the Nizamuddin returnees who had gone into hiding to give themselves up or face strong legal action. State health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he was “frustrated and fed up” with the intransigence of a section of the Markaz attendees.

The AIUDF distanced itself from the controversial MLA’s statements and said they did not reflect the views of the party.

But AIUDF general secretary Md. Aminul Islam (who shares the same name as the MLA) said the government should also take action against representatives of other political parties who have made insensitive and incendiary remarks.

He, however, did not name such people or elaborate on those remarks.