Tripura Congress leader Shahjahan Islam's father and brother arrested hours after his ‘derogatory' remarks on CM Saha

Indian Express

2 days ago

The Tripura police arrested Congress youth leader Shahjahan Islam's father and brother on Monday, hours after Islam's home in Agartala came under attack following his criticism of the government and police over incidents related to animal sacrifice for Eid al-Azha.
The BJP filed a police complaint against the Congress leader over his comments about Chief Minister Manik Saha and BJP minority wing leader and state minority board chairman Jashim Uddin, among others, on social media.
In a social media video, Shahjahan Islam was seen lashing out at the police and the state government for purportedly failing to stand up to miscreants who allegedly interrupted the customary animal slaughter on Bakrid and was seen spitting, expressing disgust for the police.
The Congress leader also allegedly used derogatory language for Saha and called BJP minority leaders cheats, urging Muslims to 'socially boycott' community members who are leaders in the saffron party. 'He made obscene comments about the chief minister and the state government on social media. He also made comments on minority morcha leaders and myself. On one hand, there has been an attempt to malign the state government and on the other hand, there is a conspiracy to create unrest among communities. All these are found in his Facebook post,' said BJP minority wing state president Billal Miah, the complainant in the case.
Islam's comments sparked a controversy online.
Meanwhile, the Congress protested in Unakoti district against the attack on Islam's house in Agartala's Shantipara area, while the BJP held a protest rally in the capital condemning his remarks.
In his statement to the police, Islam said he was attacked by a band of goons as soon as he returned home from the state Congress office on Sunday night. He also alleged that the goons, who were brandishing firearms, wanted to murder him but failed since he had locked himself inside a room and later assaulted his parents and wife.
There were clashes related to animal sacrifice in different places in Gomati district's Udaipur area. Four people were arrested for allegedly slaughtering a cow in public near a waterbody in the Chhanban area on Saturday.
Opposition political parties condemned the attack on Islam's home and demanded action. Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury said, 'This incident is deeply worrisome and condemnable. The youth who made a video, if he said such things about the CM, I don't support it. It should not be done. But the incident that happened as a reaction was even more wrong.'
The CPM leader said Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman and state president Ashish Kumar Saha, who visited the site of the violence, might also have come under attack if the police were not present there. He further alleged that some locals were threatened that their houses would be ransacked if they did not leave the locality by Monday evening.
Chaudhary added that he called up the DGP over the issue. 'The state government should take steps so that law and order does not deteriorate. Or else, they won't be able to contain the outrage,' he said.
Congress leader Birajit Sinha also condemned the attack and said the culture of attacking houses started after the BJP came to power.