The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has moved the Supreme Court against some public statements made by BJP leader and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, calling them “communal, deeply divisive, and contrary to the spirit of the Constitution”.
Mr. Sarma is said to have made the allegedly offensive remarks asking for harassing the Miya Muslims of Assam in various ways, including asking them to “cast their vote in Bangladesh, not India”.
The plea filed on behalf of Mahmood Madani, president, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, through senior advocate M.R. Shamshad, urged the court to frame strict and enforceable guidelines for persons holding constitutional positions, so that public offices are not misused to spread hatred or target any community. Mr. Madani’s application was filed in a pending petition of Jamiat in which an order was reserved by the top court on January 20 this year.
The petition refers in particular to a speech delivered by the Assam Chief Minister on January 27 in which he claimed that four to five lakh Miya voters would be removed from the electoral rolls. The remark came even before the SIR campaign has started in Assam. He is said to have further stated that he and his party were “directly against the Miya community”. The plea pointed out that the term ‘Miya’ is widely used in Assam as a derogatory reference to Muslims.
