GUWAHATI: The Assam government has served showcause notices on 14 members posted or attached to six Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs) weeks after their donations to the COVID-19 relief fund with a condition that the “help may not be extended to violators of the Tablighi Jamaat, Jehadi and Jahil.”
The notices, issued by ND Patowary, who is the Deputy Secretary in Political (B) Department, asked them to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against them for the act which is unbecoming of an FT member and could lead to communal disharmony.
In a letter dated April 7 and addressed to Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Kamalesh Kumar Gupta, the FT member of Baksa district, had listed the donations made by the 14 members, including him, to Assam Arogya Nidhi for combating the COVID-19 pandemic. It contained the “communal” statement.
The notice stated “objection has been raised to a line”. It also cited the filing of an FIR by the All Assam Minority Students’ Union on April 11.
The FTs deal with cases of suspected illegal immigrants. Earlier, Congress MP Abdul Khaleque had written to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal demanding the sacking of Gupta alleging that he had “stoked disharmony, ill-will, feelings of enmity and hatred between different communities.”
Gupta has since tendered an apology. He also said that he did not take the consent of other FT members before issuing the letter.