19 arrested in northeastern India over social media posts on Pahalgam attack

At least 19 people were arrested across three northeastern states of India by Saturday for making “seditious” remarks about the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which left 26 people dead.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that three more people were held in Assam, one each in Hajo near Guwahati city, Hailakandi, and Nagaon, bringing the total number of arrests in the state to 14. Further, four arrests were made in Tripura and one in Meghalaya.

The Assam Chief Minister also warned that anyone found directly or indirectly supporting Pakistan would face action under the National Security Act (NSA).

“If required, we will impose provisions of the National Security Act on them. We are examining all social media posts, and action will be taken against those who, we feel, are anti-national… There are no similarities between Bharat and Pakistan. The two countries are enemy nations and we must remain that way,” CM Sarma said.

Further, taking to X, he said: “My job is clear- to come down hard on Pro-Pakistani and Pro-Bangladeshi elements in Assam and to take stringent action against them.”

The first arrest in Assam took place on Thursday, when Aminul Islam, an MLA from the opposition All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), was detained and charged with sedition for claiming that the 2019 Pulwama attack and Tuesday’s Pahalgam attack were “government conspiracies.” On Friday, he was remanded to four days of police custody.

CM Sarma on Friday took to X, detailing the arrests made so far over social media posts, and said: “Assam will not tolerate any individual who, directly or indirectly, supports or defends Pakistan in connection with the heinous attack in Pahalgam.”

The other arrests in Assam till Friday included Md Jabir Hussain from Hailakandi, Md AK Bahauddin and Md Javed Mazumder from Silchar, Md Mahahar Mia from Morigaon and Md Sahil Ali from Sivasagar. Md Musta Ahmed alias Sahel from Karimganj was arrested on Friday night for posting “Pakistan Zindabad” on Facebook.

Among those arrested, Hussain is a journalist, Bahauddin is a computer science student at Assam University in Silchar, and Mazumder is a lawyer.

On Saturday, police apprehended 25-year-old Md Jarif Ali and Anil Bania, the district secretary of the student organization Satra Mukti Sangram Parishad, from Biswanath.

Separate arrests were also made: Sumon Mazumdar, also known as Bulbul Alom Mazumdar, was detained in Hailakandi, Mashud Azhar in Nagaon, and another individual near Hajo, close to Guwahati — all accused of posting “anti-India comments” online.

Meanwhile, in Cachar district, two more individuals were arrested for allegedly posting “content supporting Pakistan” on social media.

Terrorists opened fire in Pahalgam on Tuesday, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.

The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack.

Source: News 18
--Agencies