The Assam Government has decided to register a criminal case against former Jawaharlal Nehru University student and Shaheen Bagh Coordination committee chief Sharjeel Imam over his remarks that Assam should be cut off from the rest of India.  

Addressing a press meet in Guwahati on January 25th, 2020, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “The main organizer of Shaheen Bagh protest, Sarjil has said that Assam should be cut off from the rest of India. The government has taken cognizance of this seditious statement and has decided to register a case against him.”

In a shocking video shared by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, Imam is seen making controversial statements saying that Muslims are in such numbers that they can cut out the entire Northeast from the rest of India “if not permanently than may be for few months”. In the video, addressing the protesters at Shaheen Bagh, Imam is heard saying that their aim is to “alienate” Assam and Northeast from India.

In the video, Imam says, “If we have 5 lakh organised people then we can permanently cut North-east from India or at least for one-two month. Put so much (unclear) on the roads and tracks that they cannot even remove it for a month. It is our responsibility to isolate Assam from India, then only they will listen to our voice.”

He adds, “It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. You know what is happening to the Muslims in Assam…NRC is already applied there, they have been put in detention centers. We may come to know that in the coming six-eight months all Bengalis have been killed either Hindu or Muslim. If we want to help Assam, then we will have to stop the way to Assam for the Indian Army and other supplies. We can do it because the Chicken neck of India (Siliguri Corridor) belongs to the Muslims.”

Further criticising about CPI(M) leader Kanhaiya Kumar, he said, “Politicians like Kanhaiya will go there, call for Inquilab, take photos and come back. The mass will be ours (Muslims) and the face will be of theirs, which will not have anything productive. We must productively use our anger and its the responsibility of all of us (Muslims) instead of going for photo-sessions. The sensitization is in not in our control. It is in the hands of the Congress, Left and others who worship the Indian state.” 

In a Facebook post shared on January 24th, 2020, Imam wrote that the main aim of Shaheen Bagh protest is to do ‘chakka jam’ and rest everything is secondary.

The Shaheen Bagh proter leader said that people need to understand the difference between ‘chakka jam’ and sit-in protests. “Organise sit-in protests in every city and tell people about chakka jam. Then after all the preparation and planning go and sit on the highways,” he wrote.

Shaheen Bagh protest

The Shaheen Bagh protest, on now for more than a month, has made it to the headlines due to its unique nature. More than 5,000 women, men and children are staging a sit-in at the Mansoor Ali Khan Park to voice their dissent against the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens and National Population Register.

Photo: Screengrab/Twitter