The Crossbill News Desk
On Sunday (August 25), people across various parts of Assam took to the streets to protest the alleged gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in Dhing, Nagaon district, on the evening of August 22. Demonstrators demanded severe punishment for the perpetrators.
Amid widespread backlash, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma quickly seized the opportunity to launch new communal attacks against the state’s Muslim community, as the victim of the alleged gang rape is a Hindu minor girl and one of the accused, Taffiqul Islam (also known as Tafazzul), being is a Muslim.
Sarma has urged the Assamese Hindu community to recognize their "real enemy," emphasizing that ignorance of this issue represents the "biggest irony" and "problem" for Hindu Assamese, news website The Wire reported.
The girl was reportedly assaulted by three individuals who approached her on a motorcycle while she was cycling home from tuition in Dhing on Thursday evening. Following the incident, shops and business establishments in Dhing reopened today after being closed for two days in protest against the crime.
Tafazzul Islam, the prime accused of raping the minor girl, died after allegedly fleeing police custody and jumping into a pond.
The alleged gang rape incident brought life to a halt in Nagaon and surrounding districts as residents took to the streets on Friday to protest and demand stringent action against the alleged perpetrators. A protest rally was held in Gossaigaon, Kokrajhar district, while demonstrations also took place in Sivasagar, with protesters demanding severe punishment for those responsible for the crime.
Meanwhile, Assam CM spared no effort in fuelling communal tensions. Sarma directly linked the Congress’s victory in last Lok Sabha elections in the Muslim-majority Nagaon constituency to an increase in such crimes, placing the blame on the entire Muslim community in the district, The Wire reported.
Sarma claimed that the problem extended beyond Dhing and Nagaon, suggesting that Hindu Assamese people were facing a "Muslim conspiracy and evil design" throughout Assam, where Hindus are becoming minorities. He alleged that the gang rape as part of a "nefarious and conspiratorial" plot by the Muslim community to drive Hindu Assamese people from their lands and homes so that Muslims could seize and sell their properties.
“In Assam indigenous people are easy prey in places where they have no majority and are living in fear. We need to be sensitive about our own people who have become minorities. But in places where Assamese (Hindu) people are in majority they do not feel that the Assamese people (are) rendered minorities. The more sensitive we are, the more secure the Assamese people are. If there is an incident, we quickly blame it as the Assamese-Bengali incident. But no Bengali (Hindu) man will touch a woman. But Assamese will worry about Bengalis and vice-versa, and about Marwaris. Marwaris will worry about other Hindi speakers. But we do not care, do not know or try to find out who the real enemy is. This is the biggest irony and problem,” The Wire quoted Sarma as saying.
“This is not the first such case of attack in Dhing. There have been prior such cases before. There is no need for new laws. There are many laws. Actions should be taken by the chief minister. Police have machine guns, bullets and guns. So, why need a new law? The state government needs to do what it has to do. Police firepower is enough,” Sarma added.
“Such cases are on the rise after elections, and this has given a boost of confidence to people from a specified community,” he asserted.
Amid widespread backlash, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma quickly seized the opportunity to launch new communal attacks against the state’s Muslim community, as the victim of the alleged gang rape is a Hindu minor girl and one of the accused, Taffiqul Islam (also known as Tafazzul), being is a Muslim.
Sarma has urged the Assamese Hindu community to recognize their "real enemy," emphasizing that ignorance of this issue represents the "biggest irony" and "problem" for Hindu Assamese, news website The Wire reported.
The girl was reportedly assaulted by three individuals who approached her on a motorcycle while she was cycling home from tuition in Dhing on Thursday evening. Following the incident, shops and business establishments in Dhing reopened today after being closed for two days in protest against the crime.
Tafazzul Islam, the prime accused of raping the minor girl, died after allegedly fleeing police custody and jumping into a pond.
The alleged gang rape incident brought life to a halt in Nagaon and surrounding districts as residents took to the streets on Friday to protest and demand stringent action against the alleged perpetrators. A protest rally was held in Gossaigaon, Kokrajhar district, while demonstrations also took place in Sivasagar, with protesters demanding severe punishment for those responsible for the crime.
Meanwhile, Assam CM spared no effort in fuelling communal tensions. Sarma directly linked the Congress’s victory in last Lok Sabha elections in the Muslim-majority Nagaon constituency to an increase in such crimes, placing the blame on the entire Muslim community in the district, The Wire reported.
Sarma claimed that the problem extended beyond Dhing and Nagaon, suggesting that Hindu Assamese people were facing a "Muslim conspiracy and evil design" throughout Assam, where Hindus are becoming minorities. He alleged that the gang rape as part of a "nefarious and conspiratorial" plot by the Muslim community to drive Hindu Assamese people from their lands and homes so that Muslims could seize and sell their properties.
“In Assam indigenous people are easy prey in places where they have no majority and are living in fear. We need to be sensitive about our own people who have become minorities. But in places where Assamese (Hindu) people are in majority they do not feel that the Assamese people (are) rendered minorities. The more sensitive we are, the more secure the Assamese people are. If there is an incident, we quickly blame it as the Assamese-Bengali incident. But no Bengali (Hindu) man will touch a woman. But Assamese will worry about Bengalis and vice-versa, and about Marwaris. Marwaris will worry about other Hindi speakers. But we do not care, do not know or try to find out who the real enemy is. This is the biggest irony and problem,” The Wire quoted Sarma as saying.
“This is not the first such case of attack in Dhing. There have been prior such cases before. There is no need for new laws. There are many laws. Actions should be taken by the chief minister. Police have machine guns, bullets and guns. So, why need a new law? The state government needs to do what it has to do. Police firepower is enough,” Sarma added.
“Such cases are on the rise after elections, and this has given a boost of confidence to people from a specified community,” he asserted.
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