Assam Police Is BJP’s Agent, Claim Congress Leaders After Protest Curbed In Silchar

Tensions ran high in Silchar as Congress workers clashed with police on Wednesday afternoon (February 11) during a protest rally against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his recent remarks questioning the alleged Pakistani links of APCC president Gaurav Gogoi. Several Congress workers were reportedly injured in the scuffle.

The protest rally, taken out from the District Congress office to the Khudiram statue near the District Commissioner’s office, witnessed a road blockade and effigy burning of the Chief Minister. When police intervened to prevent the effigy burning and clear the blockade, pushing and shoving broke out between the two sides.

District Congress President of Cachar, Sajal Acharjee, termed the Chief Minister’s recent press meet a “flop show”. He alleged, “Looking at the popularity of Gaurav Gogoi and his expose of Himanta’s scam has turned the CM into a crazy man. He has no other agenda but to call Gaurav Gogoi Pakistani. If he is Pakistani indeed, the CM has enough resources to prove it. Why is he not doing that and only making baseless allegations?”

He further claimed that several Congress workers were injured as police allegedly did not allow them to exercise their “democratic right of peaceful protest”.

Congress leader Papon Deb also criticised the Chief Minister, saying, “CM has launched these scathing allegations on Gaurav Gogoi only after Congress tried to expose the corruption done by the BJP government in Assam. He has bought bighas and bighas of land, and when this came out in public, he got scared and, to divert the narrative, he is doing divisive politics.”

Leaders who participated in the rally described the Chief Minister’s remarks as “cheap politics”. One injured Congress worker alleged, “The police who tried to stop our peaceful democratic protest today are not police, they are agents of the BJP. Democracy is dead in Assam under CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. Seeing the tall stature of Gaurav Gogoi in Assam today and knowing that there is no way to stop Congress from forming the next government in Assam, CM Sarma is making baseless statements.”

A Youth Congress leader present at the protest said the BJP has no power to stop Gaurav Gogoi from entering the Barak Valley.

This comes in response to a BJP rally and effigy burning of Gaurav Gogoi held in Silchar on Sunday (February 8), where Cachar Police allegedly allowed the rally to proceed from Devdoot Point to Rangirkhari Point. But ironically, today’s rally couldn’t last due to police opposition to the opposition party.