Rahul Gandhi has hailed the “courage and conviction” of Assam Congress leader Mridul Islam in a condolence letter to his mother, following his demise after participating in a protest against the BJP on December 18.
In a letter to Islam’s mother, Rahul said that in the “untimely demise” of her son, the party has lost a member who “fought fearlessly against injustice till the very end”.
Islam had complained of uneasiness soon after the police used tear gas to disperse the protesters trying to march towards Raj Bhawan in protest against the BJP-led government’s inaction on installation of smart meters, the ongoing Manipur crisis and alleged corruption of the Adani Group. Several journalists were also adversely affected by the use of tear gas.
Rahul’s letter, dated December 20, was handed over to the family along with two cheques totaling ₹25 lakh by the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) team led by its president Bhupen Kumar Borah, at Islam’s Sontali residence in Kamrup district on Tuesday evening.
The PCC had mobilised ₹20 lakh and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) ₹5 lakh in financial assistance to Islam’s family comprising his mother, widow and two minor daughters.
Rahul’s letter said: “Advocate Mridul was a proud son of Assam. His commitment and dedication to our ideological fight was admirable. He believed in the vision of our Constitution and strived to take it to the people.”
“In these times, it takes tremendous courage and conviction to challenge a fascist regime. Your son’s martyrdom stands testament to his bravery. His sacrifice will not be forgotten, and we will continue to take this fight ahead... The entire Congress family stands by you in this difficult hour,” the leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha added.
A video of Islam vociferously raising slogans against the incumbent BJP regime started doing the rounds of social media after the police claimed that he may have been unwell.
The state Congress upped their ante with declaring Islam as the first “martyr” of the Congress’ ongoing fight against the ruling BJP’s “misrule”, seeking a judicial inquiry into the incident and writing to Assam chief minister to help Islam’s widow by providing her with a suitable government job.
However, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that everything will depend on the findings of the probe ordered into the incident.
On Monday, the Assam PCC had submitted a memorandum to the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the “brutality” committed by the police on party members and journalists during a protest and to “register a case, enquire into the same, grant adequate punishment to the culprit...”
PCC’s memorandum claimed that Congress members were “peacefully” proceeding towards the Raj Bhawan and police personnel “present at the spot... had tried to resist the peaceful procession and had thrown tear gas shells upon the protesters in sheer violation of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be used by police while handling riots and protests”.
The AHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident.