Assam CM engaged in lawless, illegal activities: Prashant Bhushan

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan on Sunday slammed Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, alleging that the BJP leader was engaged in every kind of "lawless and illegal activities" and was trying to hide "this loot" from the outside world.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in Guwahati, Bhushan said the Sarma-led government is "preventing" people from finding out what is happening in the state.

"It is clear that the Assam government of Himanta Biswa Sarma is engaged in every kind of lawless and illegal activity, particularly illegally pushing out citizens to Bangladesh and outside this country, illegally evicting people from their land and demolishing their homes," he said.

Bhushan, also a renowned social activist, also alleged that the state government was "illegally" attempting to hand over agriculturally productive tribal lands to companies like the Adani Group and others.

"A complete loot is going in the state and the chief minister wants to hide this. Therefore, he wants to prevent independent people," he added.

Earlier during the day, Sarma claimed that the Congress, Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, and intellectuals like Harsh Mander, Prashant Bhushan, Wajahat Habibullah, Fayaz Shaheen and Jawahar Sircar are working to weaken the state with some elements of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

"Why does Himanta Biswa Sarma government fear these kind of people for coming to Assam and find out what is happening here? What does he have to fear from people like Wajahat Habibullah, Syeda Hameed, Harsh Mander, Jawhar Sircar?" asked Bhushan.

He pointed out that these people are eminent personalities who consist of former chief information commissioner, former chairman of minorities commission, former member of planning commission, former secretary to government of India and former IAS officer.

"It just shows that this government is totally fearful of people from outside Assam coming to know the truth of what is happening here. From what we have learnt is that there are illegal evictions, illegal pushbacks, illegal demolitions and illegal takeover of agricultural lands of tribals and other farmers for giving them to corporates like Adani etc — that is what is going on in Assam," Bhushan alleged.

The eminent personalities addressed a seminar on 'The State of the Nation with Special Reference to Assam', organised by a citizen's forum -- Asom Nagarik Sanmilan.

Bhushan said they wanted to visit the recent eviction site at Goalpara district, but were not allowed by the administration citing prohibitory orders.

"We could not go there because the government imposed prohibitory orders and prevented meeting of more than five people. However, today the chief minister has also tweeted that Prashant Bhushan, Harsh Mander and Wajahat Habibullah have come to Assam and are spreading misinformation.

"We have come here to talk to the local poeple to find out what is happening. He (Sarma) is preventing us from even finding out what is happening, and on top of it he is saying that Prashant Bhushan, etc, have come to spread misinformation," the senior advocate said.

Bhushan also criticised the Sarma-led government for registering sedition cases against senior journalists.

"The Assam government is registering sedition cases against journalists left and right, respectable journalists like Siddharth Varadarajan, Karan Thapar and Abhisar Sharma, who have not even said anything about Assam.

"They were just saying things or giving interviews, which the central government did not like, and yet the FIRs are being registered here just to harass these people," he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, who is a member of the citizen's forum, said they invite eminent personalities from outside to deliver talks and present their views on various recent developments.

"Prashant Bhushan, Syeda Hameed, Jawhar Sircar, Harsh Mander -- people like them have been fighting to uphold Indian democracy. On some occasions they may be fighting alone, while at other times they are fighting with others," he added.

Countering Sarma's allegations that these eminent personalities have come to "create unrest" in Assam, Bhuyan said they came here because Delhi "does not hear" the pain and grief of the state.

"The so-called national media is least interested in Assam. But their visit has proved that people, who love us and stand with our democratic struggle, are still there outside the state. When these people will speak the truth about Assam tomorrow, they will be stopped," the MP said.