Police complaint lodged against Ajmal; parties link his comments to Gujarat polls

Police complaints were lodged in Assam on Saturday by Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) against AIUDF MP Badruddin Ajmal for his purported comments targeting women and the Hindu community.

AJP vice-president Dulu Ahmed filed the complaint at Hatigaon police station here and in Hailakandi by the party's chief convenor there. The police confirmed receiving the complaint and said investigation has been started in the matter. Ahmed demanded immediate action against Ajmal, a Lok Sabha MP, for his comments as it has led to “widespread reactions in the society and could ignite communal violence”.

He sought an enquiry against Ajmal and demanded stringent measures against him as per law. Ajmal in an interview to a media house on Friday had commented on women and Hindu men as well as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, purportedly as a rejoinder to his remarks on ‘love jihad’.

The AIDUF chief, who is revered as a 'maulana', courted controversy by reportedly advising Hindus to marry young to produce more children like Muslims. His political detractors linked his remarks to the Gujarat Assembly poll and alleged that the AIUDF supremo was toeing the BJP line to "rescue" the party, which is in power in the western state. The TMC even burnt his effigy here.

The ruling BJP roundly criticised the remarks attributed to the perfume baron. The saffron party spokesperson Ranjib Sarma said “Ajmal and his ilk view women as mere objects. The words he has used against our chief minister should be challenged by the entire civilized society.”

He also demanded that Ajmal be stripped of his ‘maulana’ title. Sarma also questioned the timing of the comments as it came on a day when a committee was formed by the Assam government to look into problems of Satras (Vaishnavite monasteries) submitted its interim report. The report pointed to largescale encroachment of Satra land mostly by migrant Muslims who form Ajmal’s vote bank, the BJP spokesperson claimed.

BJP legislator Diganta Kalita urged the Muslim community to stand up against Ajmal and maintained that people making such comments should be "socially and politically ostracised". State Congress president Bhupen Bora was quick to sniff a conspiracy between Ajmal and the chief minister in creating the "controversy".

“Ajmal and Himanta Biswa Sarma are conspiring together to divert attention from the core issues facing the people and to keep them engaged elsewhere,” he maintained. Leader of the Opposition in state Assembly Debabrata Saikia (Cong) also maintained that there is need to look into whether there is any connection between BJP and AIUDF leading to Ajmal’s comments.

The Assam police should take suo moto cognisance against Ajmal for not only the remarks against women and a community, but also for the specific comments against the chief minister, he said.

“It is strange that the Hindu organisations have not approached the police yet,” Saikia added. Raijor Dal general secretary Azizur Rahman questioned why Ajmal, who hails from a Bengali Muslim family, chose to speak in Hindi during the interview. “Gujarat assembly election is on and BJP’s boat is sinking there. BJP needs religious polarization to save itself and it has enlisted Ajmal for its rescue. That’s why he spoke in Hindi,” he said.

Rahman said that as a religious preacher Ajmal is aware of the high status women are accorded in Islam and yet he made the "disparaging remarks against them and equated them with child producing machines".

The Trinamool Congress staged a demonstration in front of its office here and burnt an effigy of Ajmal. “We will not tolerate such comments against women and Hindus. Ajmal is saying these things at the dictates of BJP with an eye on the Gujarat polls. We demand his immediate arrest,” the party’s spokesperson Dilip Sharma said.