10 PFI leaders arrested for instigating communal tension in Assam

They were arrested in connection with a case registered seven months ago by the special operations unit of Assam Police

Assam Police on Thursday arrested 10 leaders of Popular Front of India (PFI) for allegedly instigating communal tension by criticising government policies including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and eviction of Muslim families in Assam.

Interestingly, the 10 leaders were arrested in connection with a case registered seven months ago by the special operations unit of Assam Police. They were taken into custody on a day the National Investigation Agency (NIA) launched a crackdown against the PFI across the country.

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"They were indulging in whipping up the communal passion and sentiments of the religious minority by criticising every policy of the government with communal overtones which include the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC), the new State Education Policy, Cattle Protection Act, extension of the AFSPA, Teachers Eligibility Test examination, Agnipath scheme, eviction in encroached government lands with a view to term these actions of the government as an attack on the Muslim community," Assam Police said in a statement.

Police alleged that they also obstructed government officials from performing their duties. The PFI also tried to conduct several programmes in some districts of Assam by violating prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The 10 arrested persons are: Aminul Hoqu, Abdul Razzak, Robiul Hussain, Nazrul Islam Bhuyan, Rafiqul Islam, Abu Sama Ahmed, Farhad Ali, Khalilur Rahman, Mufti Rahmatullah and Bazlul Karim.

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Police added the PFI leaders were misleading and inciting the people against the government by taking up issues which occurred outside the state and "mis-campaigning" through social media platforms. "The leaders had been extensively using cyber space to provoke the people for defying the government and to divide the society on religious lines and obstruct the government on execution of policies. They were provoking the people against the government with the aim to spread mistrust among the public against the government," it said.

Some of the other issues raised by the PFI leaders include the Karnataka High Court verdict on Hijab matter, Bilkis Bano case, court verdict on the Gyanvapi Mosque and abrogation of the Article 370 of the Constitution of India. Police stated that they organised protests on such issues in very communally sensitive areas like Badarpur, Karimganj, Barpeta, Baksa, Kamrup, Goalpara and Kamrup (Metro) districts in Assam.

"These leaders were also trying to spread communal feelings in Muslim dominated pockets of Barpeta, Goalpara, Badarpur by whipping their sentiments on the issue of communal violence, Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti that took place in Rajasthan," the police added.