Himanta alleges conspiracy to weaken Assam; Prashant Bhushan accuses CM of lawlessness

Margherita/Guwahati, Aug 24 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday claimed that the Congress, Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, intellectuals like Harsh Mander and Prashant Bhushan and some elements in Pakistan and Bangladesh are working to weaken the state.

Countering his allegations, senior advocate Bhushan slammed Sarma, alleging that the BJP leader was engaged in every kind of "lawless and illegal activities" and was trying to hide "this loot" from the outside world.

Speaking to reporters on sidelines of a programme in Margherita, Sarma said, "In Assam, Congress, Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, Prashant Bhushan, Harsh Mander and intellectuals like them, and some elements from Pakistan and Bangladesh are active with the aim to weaken our state. We, all Assamese and Indians, have to be united to defeat this conspiracy".

He claimed that few individuals are moving across the state since Saturday to spread unrest.

"Harsh Mander and Prasant Bhushan have been visiting different places since yesterday. Another group of similar people, including Jawhar Sircar, Wajahat Habibullah and Fayaz Shaheen are also touring lower Assam districts. They are only meeting leaders of minority community and Jamaat-e-Islami in Assam to create an atmosphere of unrest," Sarma said.

He said their movements are being closely monitored to ensure that "they do not succeed the way they did during the NRC".

In Guwahati, Bhushan told reporters that the Sarma-led government was "preventing" people from finding out what was happening in the state.

"It is clear that the Assam government of Himanta Biswa Sarma is engaged in every kind of lawless and illegal activity, particularly illegally pushing out citizens to Bangladesh and outside this country, illegally evicting people from their land and demolishing their homes," he claimed.

Bhushan, also a renowned social activist, also alleged that the state government was "illegally" attempting to hand over agriculturally productive tribal lands to companies like the Adani Group and others.

"A complete loot is going in the state and the CM wants to hide this. Therefore, he wants to prevent independent people. Why does the Sarma government fear these kinds of people for coming to Assam and finding out what is happening here? What does he have to fear from people like Wajahat Habibullah, Syeda Hameed, Harsh Mander, Jawhar Sircar?" asked Bhushan.

He pointed out that these people are eminent personalities who consist of former chief information commissioner, former chairman of minorities commission, former member of planning commission, former secretary to government of India and former IAS officer.

"It just shows that this government is totally fearful of people from outside Assam coming to know the truth of what is happening here. From what we have learnt is that there are illegal evictions, illegal pushbacks, illegal demolitions and illegal takeover of agricultural lands of tribals and other farmers for giving them to corporates like Adani etc. That is what is going on in Assam," Bhushan alleged.

The eminent personalities addressed a seminar on 'The State of the Nation with Special Reference to Assam', organised by a citizen's forum -- Asom Nagarik Sanmilan.

In a post on X, the CM reiterated: "After Jamaat-e-Hind's outburst demanding my dismissal yesterday, a Delhi-based team — Harsh Mander, Wajahat Habibullah, Fayaz Shaheen, Prashant Bhushan, and Jawahar Sircar — is now camping in Assam." He alleged that their sole aim is to paint the lawful evictions as a so-called "humanitarian crisis." "This is nothing but a planned attempt to weaken our fight against illegal encroachers. We are alert and firm — no propaganda or pressure will stop us from protecting our land and culture," Sarma said.

The Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind's Working Committee at a meeting, chaired by its president Mahmood Madani, on Wednesday expressed alarm over the eviction drives in the state that have rendered over 50,000 families homeless, mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims.

Adopting a resolution, the organisation called upon India's constitutional authorities, particularly the President of India and the Chief Justice of India, to immediately remove the Chief Minister and initiate criminal proceedings against him for hate speech.

Sarma had on Saturday said that he does not care about the demand for his resignation and that if he gets Madani, he would send the Islamic scholar to Bangladesh.

Bhushan also said they wanted to visit the recent eviction site at Goalpara district of Assam, but were not allowed by the administration citing prohibitory orders.

"We could not go there because the government imposed prohibitory orders and prevented meeting of more than five people. However, today the chief minister has also tweeted that Prashant Bhushan, Harsh Mander and Wajahat Habibullah have come to Assam and are spreading misinformation.

"We have come here to talk to the local people to find out what is happening. He (Sarma) is preventing us from even finding out what is happening, and on top of it, he is saying Prashant Bhushan, etc, have come to spread misinformation," the senior advocate said.

Bhushan also criticised the Sarma-led government for registering sedition cases against senior journalists like Siddharth Varadarajan, Karan Thapar and Abhisar Sharma. PTI TR SSG TR MNB