Bhasha Shahid Station Row: Two More FIRs Filed Against Kemprai for Provoking Feud Between Communities

The controversy surrounding the remarks of Mukteswar Kemprai, President of the Dimasa Writers’ Forum, has deepened as two more FIRs have been filed against him on Monday (October 27), following the earlier one lodged by former Cachar District Congress President Abhijit Paul. The new complaints have been registered by Barak-er Awaz and a joint forum of more than 25 organisations from Barak Valley.

Both complaints accuse Kemprai of making hateful, defamatory, and provocative remarks against the Bengali-speaking community and the 11 language martyrs of the 1961 Barak Valley Language Movement. The complainants alleged that Kemprai referred to the martyrs as “Bangladeshis” and “terrorists,” a statement they said was false, communal in nature, and intended to distort historical facts.

The FIRs, filed under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, including those relating to promoting enmity between groups, public mischief, and defamation, call for immediate legal action against Kemprai. The complainants have also urged the police to secure digital evidence of the Facebook post and collect cyber data from Meta Platforms for investigation.

In the complaint filed by Barak-er Awaz (Voice of Barak) at Silchar Sadar Police Station, representatives stated that Kemprai’s remarks had hurt the sentiments of the Bengali-speaking population and aimed to disturb the harmony between the Bengali and Dimasa communities. They also demanded his immediate arrest.

Members of Barak-er Awaz, including Soumitra Duttaray, Joydeep Dutta, and Rudra Prasad Das, were present during the filing. Speaking to the media, one of the members said, “We cannot tolerate such hateful remarks against our language martyrs. This is not freedom of expression but an attempt to divide communities. If the police fail to act, we will intensify our democratic movement.”

Meanwhile, Joydeep Chakraborty, who represented one of the organisations that lodged the collective FIR, said, “Kemprai is neither from Cachar nor from Dima Hasao. He is sitting in Lanka and making such vile remarks to divide the unity between Bengalis and Dimasas. We are taking legal steps, and we demand his immediate arrest.”

The Barak Democratic Front (BDF) has also issued a statement condemning Kemprai’s comments. BDF Chief Convener Pradip Dutta Roy questioned how the language martyrs, who were born in undivided India before Independence, could be called “Bangladeshis.” He further urged the government to expedite the process of renaming Silchar Railway Station as “Bhasha Shahid Station.”