GUWAHATI:
After the debacle in the recently concluded Rajya Sabha elections, Assam Congress, on April 3, lodged an FIR against All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) legislator Sirajuddin Ajmal for his alleged derogatory remark against the Assamese language.
A team of 20 Congress leaders comprising Bihpuria Block Congress Committee president Madhu Satola, Narayanpur Block Congress Committee president Iswar Pathak, Lakhimpur District Congress Committee vice-president Gagan Bora, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) joint secretary Jintu Hazarika and Lakhimpur District Congress Committee general secretary Arun Hazarika lodged an FIR with Bihpuria Police Station in North Assam’s Lakhimpur district and demanded stringent action against the Jamunamukh MLA for his derogatory remark against the Assamese language.
“The Assam Congress condemns AIUDF Sirajuddin’s remarks against our language. A legislator who is voted to the power by the people of Assam should not pass such a derogatory comment against a language of a community. We, the Assamese people, are very conscious about our language and take immense pride in our culture and tradition. There are instances of Assamese people sacrificing their lives for the language. And Sirajuddin’s remark is an attack on our Assamese pride.,” said Satola, addressing the press post the lodging of the FIR.
Earlier on April 1, Sirajuddin, younger brother of AIUDF supremo Badaruddin Ajmal, had refused to speak in Assamese to the media in the premises of Assam Legislative Assembly, saying that AIUDF is now a national party and hence, it would be better if he speaks in English.
“I cannot speak Assamese; hence, I am speaking in English. AIUDF is not limited to Assam alone, it’s a national party now and my brother Maulana Badruddin Ajmal is an ‘international figure’, so, everyone should know it in English. It’s my choice, I can speak in any language,” Sirajuddin had said.
A day after Sirajuddin’s video went viral, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had urged him to learn the Assamese language.
“We cannot accept what Sirajuddin Ajmal has said. I request him to kindly learn the Assamese language. Staying abroad does not mean not knowing the language of your own state,” Sarma told reporters on April 1.
Training guns at Ajmal Foundation, a charitable trust run by Badruddin, Satola said that in December 2020, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had demanded a CBI probe against the foundation alleging that it receives funds from foreign agencies and NGOs allegedly linked to terror groups.
Earlier, an NGO, Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), had alleged that several Turkey and UK-based organisations have given Rs 69.55 crore to the Ajmal Foundation for promoting education, but only around Rs 2.05 crore of the total amount was reportedly spent on educational purposes. Guwahati City Police had registered a case against the Ajmal Foundation after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Satya Ranjan Bora registered a complained against the foundation run by Badruddin Ajmal in this regard.