New Delhi: Complaint filed against Assam CM Himanta Sarma for hate speech against Bengali Muslims
New Delhi: Human rights activist and former civil servant Harsh Mander has filed a police complaint against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, accusing him of making hate speech targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam.
The complaint, filed at the Hauz Khas Police Station, relates to statements allegedly made by Sarma on January 27, 2026, during an official event in Digboi in Tinsukia district of Assam.
According to the complaint, the Chief Minister’s remarks promoted hatred, harassment and discrimination against Bengali-speaking Muslims, commonly referred to as “Miyas”, a term widely regarded as derogatory in Assam.
Mander has sought prompt action and registration of an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including Sections 196, 197, 299, 302, and 353, and has requested a proper investigation and immediate steps to prevent any further such statements as the state conducts its special voter revision process.
This comes after social media outrage erupted as Sarma continues to make hate speech targeting Muslims of Bengali origin in Assam. Sarma, who has a long record of Islamophobic remarks, said he and his government are fully prepared to “harm,” “make suffer,” “teach a lesson,” and “give trouble” to “miyas,” a term he uses to describe Muslims of Bengali origin in Assam.
On 27 January, at an official event in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Himanta Biswa Sarma referred to Bengali-speaking Muslims using the term “Miya” and made remarks encouraging harassment, social discrimination, and the deletion of their names from electoral rolls.
Addressing reporters on the sidelines of the event, Sarma reportedly asserted that it was his responsibility to cause hardship to the Miya community and said steps were being taken to ensure they could not vote in Assam.
While the Election Commission is conducting the Special Intensive Revision in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing a Special Revision process. Referring to this, Sarma reportedly said the present exercise was only preliminary and that a larger deletion of names would take place when the SIR is implemented in Assam.
The complaint states that these remarks threaten communal harmony, public order, and the constitutional rights of the affected community, including their right to vote and livelihood. It further alleges that the speech amounts to incitement to discrimination and hostility.
The complaint further notes that the remarks were made by a sitting Chief Minister at an official event, which significantly aggravates their impact, as they carry the imprimatur of state authority and are likely to embolden unlawful acts by both state functionaries and private individuals, the complainant said.
Mander said that, given that the statements disclose the commission of cognisable offences, including offences relating to promoting enmity, deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, criminal intimidation, and abuse of official position, the registration of an FIR is mandatory under law.
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Indian-origin translator Padma Viswanathan shortlisted for International Booker Prize 2026
New Delhi (PTI): Padma Viswanathan, a Canadian-American writer of Indian-origin, has made it to the 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist as the English translator of a Portuguese language novella.
"On Earth As It Is Beneath" by Brazilian author Ana Paula Maia, described by judges as a "brutal, haunting and hypnotic novella set in a remote Brazilian penal colony, where the boundaries between justice and cruelty collapse", is among the six worldwide contenders for the coveted literary honour.
The annual prize worth GBP 50,000, divided equally between the author and translator, was won last year by Kannada writer-activist Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi for the short story collection "Heart Lamp". Each shortlisted title guarantees a prize of GBP 5,000 -- also split 50-50 between the book’s author and English translator.
"What struck us most is how spare, unflinching, uncompromising and relentless it is. Maia builds an entire moral universe out of very little: a remote prison, a handful of men, and the rituals of punishment that govern their lives.
"The novel reads almost like a dark fable about power, where brutality is ordinary and civilisation feels frighteningly thin," the judging panel, which also include award-winning Indian novelist and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy, said of the work translated by US-based Viswanathan.
The 58-year-old professor of creative writing at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville is an accomplished playwright and author, whose novels have been published in eight countries.
The list, announced on Tuesday, is dominated by women, with five of the six authors and four of the six translators being female. The authors and translators represent eight countries -- Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Taiwan, the UK and the United States.
"With narratives that capture moments from across the past century, these books reverberate with history. While there’s heartbreak, brutality and isolation among these stories, their lasting effect is energising," said author Natasha Brown, chair of this year’s judging panel.
The other books include "The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran" by Shida Bazyar and translated from German by Ruth Martin; "She Who Remains" by Rene Karabash and translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel; "The Director" by Daniel Kehlmann and translated from German by Ross Benjamin; "Taiwan Travelogue" by Yáng Shuāng-zi and translated from Taiwanese by Lin King; and "The Witch" by Marie Ndiaye and translated from French by Jordan Stump.
The announcement of the winning book will take place on May 19 at a ceremony at Tate Modern in London.
The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for a single work of fiction -- either a novel or a collection of short stories -- written in another language, translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.
According to the organisers, the 2025 winner "Heart Lamp" –- the first collection of short stories to win the prize and the first translated from Kannada –- rapidly sold out in the UK in the subsequent days, with the UK publisher, And Other Stories, immediately reprinting 40,000 copies.
