GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said college girl Barshashree Buragohain was arrested by the police as she wanted to join the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and not for writing a poem allegedly supporting the banned militant group.
“The girl was not arrested for writing a poem. If she had not been arrested, she would have gone to the ULFA. How can we allow her to do so? If she goes to the ULFA, she will return as a human bomb and kill us,” Sarma told journalists.
He said prior to her arrest, Barshashree had told the police that she would go to the ULFA.
“We have to save her. Forty-two boys and girls died in the ULFA camps. What if she also gets killed there? We have to think of her. She is being counselled. I sent people to the jail this morning to talk to her,” Sarma said.
He said the 19-year-old would be released if she and her parents gave an undertaking that she would not go to the ULFA. The insurgent outfit operates from the soil of Myanmar.
Earlier, the girl’s parents had appealed to the CM to release her stating that she would appear in her B.Sc second semester examination. She had passed her class 12 board exams with letter marks in five subjects.
“We appeal to the Chief Minister sir to release our daughter. She will sit for her exams beginning July 22 and we don’t want her future to be destroyed,” her father Ajit Buragohain said.
The mother said Barshashree was arrested for writing a “poem”. She claimed the teenager did not sympathise with any terrorist outfit.
On May 18 this year, the police arrested Barshashree and charged her under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly instigating people to join the ULFA through a “poem” she had posted on Facebook. A sentence reads “Akou Korim Rashtra Droh” (will rebel again against the nation).
Assam’s Director-General of Police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said the girl was not arrested for writing a poem but for encouraging others to join the outfit.
Special DGP GP Singh said there was a specific call to indulge in waging war against the State in her Facebook post.
“When someone publicly professes support for a banned organisation and declares intent of waging war against the Indian state, we are legally bound to prosecute that person,” Singh said.
He said the charge-sheet would be filed in the court by following due process.
The Gauhati High Court will hear Barshashree’s bail petition on July 21. The Congress promised to offer legal assistance to her.
She hails from Teok in Jorhat district and was arrested by the police in neighbouring Golaghat district based on a complaint lodged by an individual.