Gauhati HC issues notice to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for repeatedly making hate comments against Muslims

The Gauhati High Court on February 26 issued a notice to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in response to multiple petitions accusing him of repeatedly making hate speeches against the Muslim community.

The court observed that his remarks reflected a “fissiparous tendency.” Notices were also served to the Government of India, the Assam state government, and the Assam Director General of Police, and the matter is scheduled to be heard next in April.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury is hearing the case after the Supreme Court declined to entertain petitions seeking action against Sarma over a now-deleted viral video that allegedly showed him aiming and firing a rifle at members of the Muslim community.

Sarma, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has previously made controversial remarks about Muslims in the state.

In January, he told reporters that only “Miyas,” a derogatory term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims, were being evicted in Assam. He acknowledged encouraging party workers to file complaints against “Miyas” to “trouble” them and send a message that “Assamese people are still living.”

He was quoted as saying that people should trouble them in any way possible, even by underpaying rickshaw fares, and asserted that he and the BJP were directly against “Miyas.”

When asked about the viral video posted on the Assam BJP’s X handle, Sarma said he was unaware of it and stated that his remarks were within constitutional limits.

He added that if any case had been filed against him, he was prepared to be arrested and go to jail, and that he would stand by his words.