By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
Guwahati: Rising in one voice, members of Parliament (MPs) from Assam – those from Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) – have raised the issue of cruel mob lynching at Dimapur earlier in the month and demanded a stop to racial profiling in the line of language and religion.
Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi demanded that the trend of terming people as Bangladeshi for their religious identity should be stopped.
Gaurav Gogoi
Rape accused Syed Sarif Uddin Khan alias Farid Khan – a resident of Karimganj in Assam – was dragged out of Dimapur jail, paraded naked through main streets and then beaten to death by a mob of several thousands in broad day light in the presence of police and security forces on March 5.
Referring to this heinous incident, Gogoi said such incidents threaten the social harmony of the northeast.
Initially, Khan was branded as Illegal Bangladeshi Immigrants (IBI), a term used in Nagaland. Many believe that the term IBI incited the mob more to launch an attack on the accused.
“It’s very unfortunate that we have created an atmosphere where we see any Muslim as a Bangladeshi. This has to be stopped. Khan was termed as Bangladeshi in spite of being an Indian citizen and his family members have served in Indian Army,” Gogoi said in the Parliament earlier this week.
He also rued at the failure of the Central security forces from protecting the jail: “It is not yet clarified if Khan was really guilty. The brutal killing of Khan without proven guilty is highly condemnable. It has brought a question on the effectiveness on the law enforcement agencies in our country. It was a large orchestrated attacked. Today, it has occurred with Khan, tomorrow it can happen to anybody. We demand that utmost priority should be given to the enquiry on the matter.”
Silchar MP Sushmita Dev too stressed on the need to stop racial profiling. “Around 25,000 people attended the janaja (last rites) of Khan … because several of his family members have served the Indian Army. But the sad part is that off racial profiling. There are 80 lakh people in Assam who speak Bengali. Even I’m a Bengali speaking. The racial profiling must stop and let’s uphold the rule of law,” Dev, daughter of former Assam minister Santosh Mohan Dev, said during this week.
Sushmita Dev
She also said that the illegal immigration may be a big problem but for that the Indian Bengali speaking people should not be harassed.
AIUDF’s Karimganj MP Radheshyam Biswas said his party demands a CBI inquiry into the matter. Meanwhile, the Nagaland government has recommended CBI probe into the case. Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang on Thursday said the government had decided to entrust the case to CBI.
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