"According to the government, madrasas in Assam are becoming hotbeds of jihadi activity."
Digital Desk: The Assam government informed
the state assembly on Monday that 84 people have been arrested in the state for
alleged jihadi activities since May 2016, when the first Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP)-led government was formed.
On the first day of the autumn session, Chief
Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who also holds the home portfolio, responded to a
question from Opposition Leader Debabrata Saikia.
35 were arrested from Jamat Ul Mujahideen Bangladesh
(JMB), 9 from Hijbul Mujahideen (HM), and 40 from Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT),
all of whom are based in Bangladesh.
The government told the assembly that of those arrested,
10 including a Bangladeshi national Saiful Islam alias Mohammed Suman were
connected to madrasas in some way or other.
"These people used to give speeches in
Jihadi-linked Madrasas and Mosques, as well as religious gatherings, inciting
people to participate in jihad and distributing jihadi literature."
"To date, no one in Assam has been injured or killed as a result of jihadi
activities," Sarma responded.
He also stated that all 84 alleged jihadis are being
investigated and have court cases pending against them. The Centre has been
informed of the jihadi activities, but no specific instructions have been
issued by New Delhi as of yet.
"According to the government, madrasas
in Assam are becoming hotbeds of jihadi activity." "However, only ten
of those arrested for such activities have links with madrasas," said
Opposition Leader and Congress legislator Debabrata Saikia.
In a related development, Morigaon district police
arrested two more people on Sunday for alleged jihadi activities. The two are
suspected of having ties to Mufti Mustafa, the administrator of a madrasa who
was arrested last month. The government destroyed the madrasa because it was
deemed unsafe.
“In October 2021, jihadi training was imparted in
Morigaon by a Bangladeshi national and Mufti Mustafa had facilitated it. Five
people attended the training. While three of them were arrested earlier in the Barpeta district, we nabbed two more on Sunday. One of them is an imam of a
mosque while the other was related to Mustafa,” Morigaon Police Superintendent,
N Aparna said.
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