By The Wire Staff
New Delhi: After Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday (January 31) launched a counterattack against a police complaint filed against him by peace and justice activist Harsh Mander, warning that he would initiate multiple legal cases in response, Mander told The Wire that “it is very strange if it is considered a crime to provide legal human rights assistance to [Muslim] victims who are seeking justice,” adding that, “I don’t know what case will be filed under which law, but this is just a threat” and “these threats will not have any effect on my work”.
Speaking to The Wire, Mander said, “I certainly helped them [Muslims] in their legal process for many years, when the NRC process was going on in Assam. It was a long and complicated process of NRC, in which they had to submit documents etc. These were very poor people, and many were in detention centres – my main work was in detention centres. National Human Rights Commission appointed me as a monitor for the minorities. That’s why I had said that I wanted to see the detention centres. During that time many people were not able to present their documents since they were kept in detention centres, which were like prisons, for years.”
He added, “I wrote a report on that and the Supreme Court registered the case. It was said that it is illegal and unconstitutional to keep unaccounted suspects in jail for years. It helped to release them from detention centres, submit documents in NRC, many people committed suicide in those centres, I worked with their families. Many people committed suicide because they could not prove their citizenship. In this whole process I worked to help those who were the poorest.”
Notably, Mander had filed a police complaint at the Hauz Khas Police Station in New Delhi against Sarma over the latter’s public statements made on Tuesday (January 27) that he said “promote hatred, harassment and discrimination against Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam”.
Mander sought prompt action and the registration of an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including sections 196 (promoting enmity between groups and doing acts prejudicial to harmony), 197 (making assertions prejudicial to national integration), 299 (malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 302 (uttering words intending to wound religious feelings) and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) and requested a formal investigation along with steps to prevent similar statements in the future.
Reacting to Mander’s complaint, Sarma said, “Who is Harsh Mander? I have seen many such people in my life. He damaged the NRC in Assam, and if I had been in a position then, I would have taught him a lesson. Now that he has filed a case against me, just watch how many cases will be filed against him.”
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
