Court sends Congress MLA to 2 days' police custody over remark on martyrs of Assam movement

Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed from Baghbar constituency was produced before the Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate court, and he was remanded to two-day police custody.

A local court in Guwahati on Sunday sent Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed to two days in police custody. He was produced before the Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate court. Ahmed, a Congress MLA of Baghbar constituency, was arrested by Guwahati city police on Saturday night for his provocative and communal remarks on the martyrs of the Assam Movement.Dispur police had first picked up Ahmed from his official residence in Dispur for questioning and later arrested him.At least 28 FIRs were lodged against him at different police stations in the state for his provocative and communal statements.While reacting to the recent eviction drive carried out by Darrang district administration in Dholpur area, Ahmed told the media that eight people who were killed by suspected Bangladeshi immigrants in Dholpur area in 1983 during Assam agitation, were not martyrs, but Ghatok (killers).ALSO READ: Assam’s eviction drive that turned violent is about land and livelihood, not religious intolerance

“They (eight people including a brother of a former minister) had killed many during that time in the name of the movement (Assam Movement). The villagers were scared of them and killed them to defend themselves,” Sherman Ali Ahmed said.The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) had also served show-cause notice to Sherman Ali Ahmed for making the communal remarks.On the other hand, the Assam Congress Legislative Party on Sunday unanimously recommended APCC to take disciplinary action against Sherman Ali Ahmed for repeatedly violating party discipline.ALSO READ: After Dholpur, Assam govt to evict encroachers from Lumding Reserve Forest as Gauhati HC orders move