GUWAHATI: Six members of the Bir Lachit Sena were detained by Guwahati police on Sunday for their role in thrashing and threatening a non-Assamese-speaking individual in public. They were later released on bail.
The incident came to light when a video depicting them carrying out moral policing on a city street went viral on social media platforms.
The viral video shows an elderly man from the Hindi-speaking community being roughed up in Taliban-style while his son tries to shield him, even as a large crowd stands by. The wife is also seen beseeching the men in the video to forgive him, even as one person threatens the elderly fellow.
The person in question was forced to kneel and seek an apology for allegedly physically assaulting an Assamese individual. However, this accusation has not yet been established to be the case.
The incident was brought to light by Assam Congress leader Gauravv Somani, who took to Twitter to share the viral video and post his comment.
“@himantabiswa @gpsinghips My straight question to you both-is this #Assam or #Taliban? Few goons running their agenda in the name of Bir Lachit Borphukon in Guwahati. See how his son nd wife crying to get his father protected because they are #Biharis. Humiliating. Pl take action,” said Somani in his tweet.
Responding to the tweet hours later, a senior Assam police official assured that action will be taken against the Bir Lachit Sena members for their non-yielding approach towards people of non-Assamese origin in the state. Accordingly, six of those appearing in the video were taken into custody.
It should be mentioned here that the members of Bir Lachit Sena often come into the news for their alleged moral policing activities in the state.
The six arrested Bir Lachit Sena members were identified as Bikas Baruah (General Secretary), Mintu Baruah, Tapan Kumar Sarma, Navin Deka, Abhinash Dutta and Nirmal Deka.
However, the six arrested members of the organisation were granted bail in the afternoon.
Although some people appreciate their nationalist outlook for standing up for the Assamese people, others say the outfit takes law into their hands, which is not done. A balanced approach would surely be more in keeping in today’s world, where co-existence is the mantra.
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