GUWAHATI: Assam Congress President Bhupen Borah has called upon former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and State Congress Chief Kamal Nath to initiate legal action by filing an FIR against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
In his appeal to Kamal Nath, Bhupen Borah highlighted the need for an FIR against CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for what he described as "his latest communal outburst – calling for the burning of 10 Janpath." Notably, 10 Janpath serves as the official residence of former UPA chairperson and ex-Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Bhupen Borah stressed that it is crucial to challenge the ongoing divisive rhetoric of the Assam Chief Minister, emphasizing that "The regular hate-spewed utterances of the Assam chief minister should not go unchallenged."
He also pointed out that the Supreme Court of India, in an order dated April 28, 2023, directed all States and Union Territories to independently register cases against individuals making hate speeches.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged "everything changed" with respect to democracy in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 and now there is a "weakening democracy" with large parts of the population not allowed to speak.
He also said though India's democracy is under a "severe assault", the country is defending it.
"When that defence stops, if ever, then I'll say India is not a democracy anymore. However, there are still so many people who are fighting the attack on our democratic structure. The fight is not over and I think we will win the fight," he said in his remarks at the University of Oslo, Norway, earlier this month, the video of which was released by the party on Thursday.
In his free-wheeling conversation at the university, Gandhi also talked about the India-Bharat name row and said if the prime minister changes the name of India to Bharat, opposition bloc INDIA will also change its name and then the PM would have to again change the name of the country.
"I don't believe that any other political formation, by simply choosing their name, has succeeded in making the incumbent change the name of the country. That's a world record," he said evoking peals of laughter from the audience.
"If and when he does change the name, we will also change our name. Then, he will have to change the name again," he said.
With the government using Bharat more prominently, there was speculation recently that the country's name could be changed and India be dropped. The opposition had alleged the government's emphasis on Bharat had come due to the opposition alliance calling itself INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance).
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