Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma accuses AIUDF MLA of “defending Pakistan” over Pahalgam attack, even as AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal distances the party from Islam's stance
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Aminul Islam, who was arrested by the Assam police Thursday on sedition charges over his controversial remarks on the Pahalgam terror attack, is a three-time MLA who has been at the centre of several controversies in the past.
The Assam police’s move to arrest Islam along with six others came after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at a press conference that the administration has “seen a video where the MLA (Islam) is defending Pakistan and its complicity in the (Pahalgam) attack”.
“I had instructed the police to take action and accordingly, the DGP has informed me that he has been arrested,” Sarma said.
AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal has distanced the party from Islam’s stance on the Pahalgam attack. “The comments made by Aminul Islam are unfortunate. This is the time to stand with our government. Terrorists have no religion. These terrorists are maligning Islam,” he said.
Multiple rows
Islam joined politics following in the footsteps of his father Moulana Khairul Islam Mufti who was an influential minority leader in Assam’s Nagaon district.
In the 2021 Assembly polls, Islam won the Dhing seat in the Nagaon district with a massive margin of 1.2 lakh over Independent candidate Mahboob Muktar.
As per the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-profit that compiles and tracks political data, Islam has been previously charged with a range of cases pertaining to different sections of the criminal codes. These include charges related to sedition, “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs” and “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language”.
In February 2020, Islam stirred a controversy when he said the Miya community, who are the Bengali-speaking Muslims of Assam, were “more indigenous than the Ahoms in Assam”. This triggered a backlash at the time.
Months later, in May 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, he was arrested for posting a controversial video online for his claims about the quarantine centres and medical workers. The FIR then stated that the MLA was “spreading misinformation amongst a particular community through WhatsApp with a view to create religious discrimination against health workers as well as medical facilities and also indulged in causing smear campaign against the government to malign it.” Through these actions, the FIR said, there was a “possibility of communal clashes” and that “the patients suffering from Covid-19 would be afraid of coming forward for treatment”.
In the state Assembly too, Islam has been a controversial figure. He was suspended in February 2017 for livestreaming his speech from inside the House on Facebook.
On Thursday, Sarma took to X to say that “Assam will not tolerate any individual who, directly or indirectly, supports or defends Pakistan in connection with the heinous attack in Pahalgam”.
The CM went on to declare: “So far, the following individuals have been arrested by @assampolice for directly or indirectly promoting the cause of Pakistan in Social media. Hailakandi – Md. Jabir Hussain, Silchar – Md. A.K. Bahauddin, Md. Javed Mazumder, Morigaon – Md. Mahahar Mia, Nagaon – Md. Aminul Islam, Sivasagar – Md. Sahil Ali. Further arrests are underway as part of our ongoing crackdown”