AJP demands arrest of Syeda Hameed, alleges CM’s hand behind her remarks on Bangladeshis

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 26, 2025

The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) has demanded the immediate arrest of Delhi-based politician Syeda Hameed for her recent remarks in Guwahati on migrants from Bangladesh, alleging that she was acting on a script prepared by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Speaking at a press conference in Guwahati on Tuesday, AJP general secretaries Chittaranjan Basumatary, Ziaur Rahman, and Girin Talukdar accused the Chief Minister of using Hameed’s statement as part of a larger conspiracy to divide Assamese society and deflect attention from the government’s failures.

On August 24, Hameed, while interacting with the media after a public meeting in Guwahati, had said: “What is the problem if Bangladeshis live in Assam?” She urged people to adopt a humanitarian perspective toward migrants. The remark triggered strong criticism across the state from both ruling and opposition leaders.

Rahman said Hameed’s comments were not isolated but aligned with the Chief Minister’s political strategy. “The Assamese nation is now in crisis, and it is time for all communities—Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, believers and non-believers—to come together against such divisive politics,” he said. He further alleged that the government was more focused on creating communal narratives than addressing pressing issues like unemployment, inflation, business distress and the growing debt crisis.

The AJP leaders also accused Sarma of attempting to promote new “Ajmals” in Assam politics for electoral gains. Citing party president Lurinjyoti Gogoi’s earlier claims about secret links between the BJP and cleric Mahmood Madani, Rahman questioned whether Hameed was being similarly used.

The party further alleged Hameed’s association with senior journalist Wasbir Hussain, whose NGO hosted her at a Guwahati roundtable in 2011. Minister Pijush Hazarika recently circulated photographs from that event, showing her alongside Hussain. The AJP pointed out that both Wasbir Hussain and journalist Sayed Zarir Hussain are linked to television channels reportedly owned by the Chief Minister’s family. “Did the Chief Minister use these journalists to script Hameed’s remarks? The public deserves an answer,” Rahman said.

Drawing parallels between Hameed’s statement and the BJP’s stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the AJP argued that both justify granting citizenship to Bangladeshis on humanitarian grounds.

Demanding her arrest, the AJP said if Hameed was not acting on the Chief Minister’s instructions, then the government should file a case against her for attempting to create communal division. “If they fail to do so, it will only prove she is working at the Chief Minister’s behest,” Rahman added.