GUWAHATI: Senior Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia has filed a police complaint against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his alleged “hateful statement” such as Lok Sabha MP and former party president Sonia Gandhi’s residence should be burnt.
Sarma made the alleged statement during a rally in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh on September 18.
“While taunting Kamal Nath, a prominent member of the Indian National Congress, about his Hindu identity, Sarma has directly suggested that 10, Janpath should be burnt,” Saikia, the leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly, said.
“In a country governed by the rule of law, Sarma has taken electoral rhetoric to its ugliest form” and gave a “clear instigation towards violence and arson”, Saikia said.
The Congress leader said that though the statement was made in Madhya Pradesh, it has been widely circulated over print, electronic and social media and it is accessible in Assam.
“By ‘suggesting that the residence of a 77-year-old lady be burnt down, Sarma is not just attacking a prominent face of the Opposition but is also giving a call towards arson,”
‘Such wanton statements coming from a person with constitutional authority has the potential of causing misguided persons to resort to violence, Saikia said.
The BJP leader is liable to be booked under Sections 153 (provocation causing rioting) and Sections 115/436 (abetment to violence) of the IPC, Saikia said. In the complaint lodged on September 20, he provided the link to a newspaper report on the speech.