[On May 3, villagers found the flag with the message “Join the ISIS” written in Arabic stuck to a tree in a paddy field in Koihata area of the district, following which they informed the nearby Belsore police station. (Image: Twitter)]
Guwahati: Assam police has detained six alleged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members for questioning over the recovery of a purported ISIS flag in Lower Assam.
News portal, The Wire, citing Time8, reported that acting on a tip-off, police in Nalbari district’s Belsor area on Monday night picked up six, including the BJP member for their alleged role in putting up the ISIS flag on a tree in the area.
The accused have been identified as Tapan Barman (from Kaihati), Dwipjyoti Thakuria, Sorojjyoti Baishya and Pulak Barman (from Belsore), Mojamil Ali (from Chamata) and Moon Ali (from Baruakur). Barman has been identified as a former Congress councillor who shifted to the BJP and is presently a member of its district committee.
On May 3, villagers found the flag with the message “Join the ISIS” written in Arabic stuck to a tree in a paddy field in Koihata area of the district, following which they informed the nearby Belsore police station. The police took off the flag and told local reporters that it would conduct an inquiry as to who might be responsible for it.
The incident created a flutter in the area as six similar flags with “ISIS NE” inscribed on them were found in the state’s Goalpara district on May 2.
The flags were found just days ahead of the visit of the 16-member joint parliamentary committee headed by BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal set up to hear representations regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, The Wire said in its report.
The BJP government at the Centre had introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha in 2016 to enable citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis, among others, on the basis of religion. While the Bill has been vehemently opposed by a large number of people in the state as it is against the Assam Accord of 1985, it has received overwhelming support in the Bengali Hindu-dominated Barak Valley.
On various occasions in the past, members of right wing Hindutva groups have bee arrested using caps and Muslim outfits and fake beard while planting bombs. In April 2006, investigating agencies found caps and fake beards in the house of a Hindu extremist who was killed while making bombs in Nanded, Maharashtra.
"These are the tactics the Hindutva organisations have always used to malign the image of Muslims and also for their sectarian agenda. Such tricks were also used to mislead the investigation", Avocate Nehal said.
In the run up to the 2014 general elections and state elections later on, opposition parties and Muslim organisations have also accused the BJP of using Hindu women wearing Burqa in its rallies for publicity purpose.
Interestingly, the affiliation of ISIS with Muslims in itself has been strongly refuted by a huge majority, with many of the belief that the terror group has been formed by vested interest to create unrest in the Muslim world.
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