Source: thewire.in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Delhi:<\/strong> Ten persons, including a group of writers and poets who identify themselves as pursuers of \u2018Miyah poetry\u2019, a form of creative expression mostly in Assamese and Bengali dialects, have been granted anticipatory bail by the Gauhati high court. They had been accused of spreading misinformation within and outside Assam about the Assamese community being \u2018xenophobic\u2019, with particular reference to one poem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The poem, penned by Kazi Neil or Kazi Sarowar Hussain and translated to English by another poet, Salim M. Hussain, had gone viral in social media in 2018. The complainant, Guwahati-based journalist Pranabjit Doloi, contended in his FIR, lodged at the city\u2019s Panbazar police station a week ago, that the poem \u201csought\u201d to project Assamese people as \u201cxenophobic in the eyes of the whole world which is a threat to the security of the nation in general and Assam in particular.\u201d He felt that the poem \u201cis (also) likely to create communal violence in the state.\u201d The poem was recently published by Al Jazeera<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides Kazi Neil and Salim Hussain, the FIR named Hafizuddin Ahmed, Rehana Sultana, Abdur Rahim, Ashraful Hussain, Karishma Hazarika, Abdul Kalam Azad and Forhad Bhuyan and Banamalika Choudhury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though the state police lodged the FIR, no arrests were made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On July 17, appearing before the court of Justice Mir Alfaz Ali on behalf of the accused, senior advocate Arup Borbora sought anticipatory bail for them on the ground that the \u201cFIR (filed by a Guwahati-based journalist ) doesn\u2019t disclose any offence.\u201d He said, \u201cat best, it can be an issue of literary debate on the ideas and feelings intended to be expressed by the author (of the poem).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Borbora said, \u201cThe averment made in the FIR appears to be nothing more than a personal understanding, analysis and perception of the informant regarding the literary works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The high court contended, \u201cBe that as it may, having regard to submission of the learned counsel for the petitioners and the nature of allegations, this Court is of the view that custodial interrogation of the petitioners is not necessary for the investigation of the present case, and as such, this appears to be a fit case for extending the benefit of pre-arrest bail to the petitioners. Therefore, the prayer for pre-arrest bail deserves to be allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Justice Ali\u00a0granted anticipatory bail\u00a0to the petitioners on the condition that they would \u201ccooperate with the investigation\u201d; \u201cshall not directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On July 13, in a joint statement issued by the \u2018Miyah poets\u2019 and those accused in Doloi\u2019s FIR, called the allegation \u201cbaseless\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFact is, not a single \u2018Miyah\u2019 poem uses the word \u2018xenophobic\u2019, \u2018xenophobia\u2019 or any variation of the word,\u201d\u00a0the statement said. \u201cThe current debate over Miyah poetry is baseless because poems written three years ago are now being dissected and a few lines of two poems are being cherry picked and taken out of context. This wilful misreading of cherry picked lines of these two poems is malicious and malafide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, three other FIRs have been lodged against the Miyah poets in other police stations of the state. \u00a0These complaints have mostly come from organisations representing the Assamese Muslim community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While one case has been lodged in Sivasagar district, on July 12, one Tabibur Rahman filed an FIR with the same allegations in Changsari police station under Kamrup (rural) district. A day later, Hafijul Ahmed who heads the Sadou Asom Goria-Deshi Jatiya Parishad, which identifies itself as \u201can indigenous Assamese Muslims body\u201d, filed another FIR against six persons indulging in \u2018Miyah poetry\u2019 at the Bongaigaon police station. Among others, the list of accused included Rehana Sultana and Hafiz Ahmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Police have registered cases based on all the FIRs under various sections including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 501 (defamatory words) and 504 Intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code, and told local media that no arrests have been made in any of these cases.<\/p>\n