Death Of Congress Worker In Guwahati, Sparks Protest (image: x.com/kcvenugopalmp)
Guwahati, Assam: The death of a Congress worker on Wednesday during a massive demonstration in Assam‘s Guwahati has sparked row in the State. Congress worker Mridul Islam, who was part of the protest, collapsed after exposing to the tear gas, and died at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) later. The opposition has accused the ruling Himanta Sarma government for “trying to create fear among the protesters”, Indian Express reports.
The protest was part of the nationwide “Raj Bhavan Chalo” demonstration, where hundreds of protestors marched towards Raj Bhavan in Kharguli raising opposition to several issues including installation of smart meters, BJP-led Central government’s refusal to discuss the Manipur crisis, allegations of corruption against the Adani Group, and the ‘one nation, one election’ Bill in Parliament.
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The protesters, led by Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah, started the march towards Raj Bhavan at around 10:30 am from Latasil in Guwahati. Mridul Islam was one of the participants of the protest.
“Mridul Islam did not die. The Himanta Biswa Sarma government murdered him through a planned crackdown on peaceful protestors. We have declared him the first martyr of our war against the corrupt BJP-led government,” The Hindu reported, as State Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah is saying.
The police had fired an excessive amount of tear gas without any prompting and virtually fired one at Islam’s face, Borah added.
Meanwhile, Guwahati Commissioner of Police Diganta Barah said a post-mortem conducted to assess the cause of death and that a magisterial inquest had not traced any external injury marks on his body. He has also confirmed that the police had used three tear gas shells in order to disperse the crowd.
“We did not use any other kind of force. We did not use lathi charge. We also did not fire the tear gas shells from guns. We rolled the ammunition on the ground to release the smoke… Despite that, some of their people moved forward but could not cross the third barricade. They sat there for some time and protested and dispersed. After they dispersed, we got to know that one of the people who was part of the protest was unwell,” Indian Express quotes, as Barah is saying.
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Congress worker Supriya Ahmed stated that soon after the use of tear gas, Islam started to feel unwell. He said that he had inhaled a lot of smoke and slowly it started getting worse. Some of his friends then took him to the hospital; at first, he was taken to a private hospital nearby, but doctors advised them to GMCH, where he was declared dead on arrival.
The Congress has criticised the use of “excessive force” by the Police on a peaceful and democratic group of protesters. The party has submitted complaint at Latasil police station in Guwahati demanding strict action against the responsible police officers. An advocate by profession, Mridul Islam was the secretary of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee’s (APCC) legal cell, and a resident of Boko in southwestern Assam.
