Assamese poster defacing row: Court grants bail to Bengali organisation’s members; “Went after soft target,” lawyer

All Bengali Youth Students’ Organisation (ABYSO) members Raju Deb and Samar Das have been granted bail by the court. Today, both of them were produced before the judge, and their counsel, advocate Soumen Choudhury argued for them.

Both of them were arrested after Cachar District Administration lodged an FIR. Hoardings of Jal Jeevan Mission were defaced by a group of people as a mark of protest. The protesters claimed that the hoardings carried advertisements in only the Assamese language which is a direct violation of the Languages act. Moreover, one of the hoardings was at the Silchar Railway Station where eleven martyrs laid their lives to secure Bengali as the official language of Barak Valley. They said, it is an insult to the language of martyrs and that is why they protested by defacing the posters.

Raju Deb and Samar Das were arrested under section 425 of IPC and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Section 3. Soumen Choudhury said that 425 of IPC is bailable and to make it nonbailable the Police imposed PDPP’s section 3. “But the Police could not provide any evidence that suggests damage to public property. So, after evaluating whatever was produced, the judge decided to grant bail to both of them,” added Soumen Choudhury.

He took a jibe at the administration and said, “Actually this is a very small case where a set of people have demonstrated against something. This happens everywhere in the country and almost every day. Here the Police was under the administration’s pressure and that is why they had to arrest someone. Now the question is, many people were summoned but why did the Police decide to arrest these two individuals? Because they are weak financially, socially and that is why they were made the scapegoat.”

Soumen Choudhury said that people from all sections had called him to wish him the best while he went to argue the case on behalf of Raju Deb and Samar Das. “I was called by Pradip Dutta Roy, Sadhan Purkayastha, and former MLA Dilip Paul himself called me a few times to know about the case. The Police van has returned and it feels good to say that both of them will go home with us today,” added Choudhury.