GUWAHATI: Aminul Islam, an MLA of the Assam opposition party, All India United Democratic Front, was arrested by the police on Thursday for linking the BJP-led central government to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead.
The police said Islam was arrested on the basis of his “misleading and instigating” statement in public, which went viral and had the potential to create an adverse situation.
A case against him was registered earlier for offences under Sections 152, 196, 197(1), 113(3), 352 and 353 of BNS.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Assam would take the strongest possible action against anyone who dared to defend—directly or indirectly—the horrific, Pakistan-sponsored terror attack in Pahalgam.
“Let it be known clearly: those who attempt to justify, normalize, or dilute the brutal murder of innocent civilians are not exercising freedom of expression—they are standing against the soul of India,” the Chief Minister posted on X.
He said the statement made by Islam hurt the sentiments of people in the state.
Sarma announced that the Assam government would offer financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those who lost their lives in Pahalgam. “We are hurt by the incident,” he said.
Earlier, Islam had found a connection between the Pulwama attack of 2019 and the Pahalgam attack.
“The day 42 Indian soldiers were killed in the Pulwama attack, I had stated it was a conspiracy. The government conspired to polarise voters and win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. I had demanded a probe, but till today, we don’t know how a vehicle carrying 300 kgs of RDX could enter a CRPF convoy in a high security area. Because the incident was not probed, the people of the country still do not know who carried out the attack,” Islam had stated at an event.
“Now, after the Pahalgam attack, the BJP is saying the terrorists fired at the Hindus and spared the Muslims. However, the survivors said nobody’s name was asked. They fired from the darkness, secretly. I suspect the Pahalgam attack was carried out by those who had perpetrated the Pulwama attack," Islam further stated.
"If the government does not conduct an impartial probe into this incident and resort to Hindu-Muslim divisive politics, we will suspect this happened due to a conspiracy hatched by the central government," he added.