In an incident that has strengthened communal tensions, Emon Paul, a youth from the Bagribari area of Kokrajhar district in Assam, has been arrested for making extremely offensive and derogatory remarks about Islam in a video. This video, which surfaced recently, contains hate speech in Hindi and threats of violence against Muslims.
In the one-minute video, Paul can be seen spewing violent and abusive content against Muslims and their religion. His comments, filled with cuss words and hate speech, had caused widespread outrage. The video also quickly went viral and got concerned responses from the local community.
On Sunday, June 23, after these derogatory remarks on social media local people protested on Sunday and blocked National Highway 17 as demands were made for his arrest.
They blocked the highway in protest and demanded Paul’s arrest. The protest even got was lathi-charged. Officers resorted to lathi-charge and even fired shots to disperse the crowd. Several people, including police personnel, were injured. Some people have also been arrested.
Meanwhile, the main accused involved in the incident, Emon Paul was arrested by the Kokrajhar police. This got a welcome response from the local residents as well as officials of All BTR Minority Students Union (ABMSU).
It should be noted that in the Bagribari region, both Hindu and Muslim communities have been living in harmony for many years.
But this unexpected event has naturally made people worried. Additional police forces have been deployed in the area since the incident. It is notable that such an incident happened soon after the state’s CM’s reportedly hateful remarks against the minority community in a recent statement to the media on June 22, 2024. He called the Muslims in Assam ‘Bangladeshi’ and stated that they are only good at ‘communal activity.’ The BJP chief minister has been notorious for his vitriolic speech against minorities, and even has made statement support casteism in the past, as per reports. Recently, Sarma was also in the news for using 58 crores out of public funds to fund his air travel to and from weddings attended by him.
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