Hindu Terrorism: Muslim Student Leader Lafiqul Islam Ahmed Shot Dead in Assam, India
02 August 2017BY ABDUL KALAM AZAD
A fierce critic of the Assam's BJP-led government, Ahmed campaigned against
corruption, child labour and child marriage.
Kokrajhar, Assam: Lafiqul Islam Ahmed, a well-known minority students' leader
in Assam, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on August 1 in the
violence-torn Kokrajhar district. Ahmed, 30, was the president of All Bodoland
Minority Students' Union (ABMSU), a powerful students' body in the Bodoland
Territorial Area Districts (BTAD).
Ahmed was a fierce critic of the BJP-led state government's anti-Muslim
policies and interventions. He was extremely vocal against the forceful
eviction of Muslims from government land across the state, and demanded
compensation and rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) induced
by river erosion in Assam. Since September last year, several thousand poor
Muslims, mostly erosion induced IDPs living on government land, were evicted
by the state government without providing alternative means of shelter. At
least two people were killed in police firing during such eviction operations.
He was also one of the leaders who organised state-wide protests and
demonstrations against the killing of Yaqub Ali in police firing in the
state's Goalpara district on June 30. Ali was part of a protest march against
the arbitrary harassment of Muslims in the name of doubtful or D-voters. The
coordinated protests and demonstrations by various student and civil society
organisations compelled the government to take action and initiate a probe
against the responsible police constable and the officer.
Ahmed was supposed to lead another protest march today, August 2, against the
alleged harassment meted out to Muslim residents thought to be D-voter. ABMSU
general secretary Kamal Shah told The Wire that over 10,000 people were
supposed to be a part of the protest in front of the deputy commissioner's
office in the adjoining Chirang district in BTAD.
Ahmed's brutal killing has revived the fear of political assassinations, which
were common in Assam in the late 1990s, infamously known as 'secret killing'.
Hagrama Mohilary, the chief of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) and a
partner of the BJP-led coalition in Assam, termed Ahmed's assassination as
politically motivated and an attempt to create unrest in the trouble-torn BTAD
region.
However, a Guwahati-based Assamese news channel claimed soon after Ahmed's
killing that he was on the verge of exposing a nexus between an international
cow-smuggling racket and one of the top cops of the Kokrajhar police. The
channel further claimed that Ahmed had provided it with video footage of the
smuggling and that he was on the verge of collecting an audio tape of a
conversation between the cop and one of the smugglers.
Despite being part of student politics in one of the most volatile regions of
the state, Ahmed led a tireless campaign against corruption and smuggling
while also fighting social evils like child marriage, child labour, dowry and
polygamy among the Muslim community.
Under his leadership, AMBSU mobilised the internally displaced persons living
in camps against child marriage and child labour. The campaign against child
marriage gained momentum and spread across the state. In the last few months,
hundreds of child marriages have been busted by various students' leaders
across the state.
As a Muslim student leader, Ahmed was keen on empowering women in the region.
In December last year, 400 girl students from the BTAD region convened in
Kokrajhar and formed ABMSU's first ever women's wing. The wing is mandated to
mobilise the community against child marriage, polygamy, dowry, domestic
violence and to popularise girl's education in the region. So far the efforts
have been successful to a great extent.
Ahmed's death will definitely affect a genuine endeavour to bring about
positive change among the marginalised social groups. His demise will create a
huge leadership vacuum in the organisation and in the Muslim community.
Ahmed's murder has triggered tensions in Kokrajhar and three other districts
of BTAD. These are regions that have seen ethnic violence in which thousands
of lives have been lost. Local news reports suggest that aggrieved supporters
and ABMSU members will organise a rally with Ahmed's body today. If this does
happens, it will likely create a serious law and order situation.
Chief minister Sarbanada Sonowal, who is also in charge of the state home
department, has strongly condemned the killing and called upon the people to
maintain peace and harmony. He has directed DGP Mukesh Sahay to visit the area
and conduct a thorough investigation.
Abdul Kalam Azad works with Tata Institute of Social Sciences as a research
fellow. He tweets @abdulkazad
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