The Assam Assembly on Wednesday condemned the act of vandalism at Kalapani mosque in Baksa district, 88km from here, on March 1.

The House also appealed to the people of Assam to maintain peace and harmony.

Unidentified miscreants on Sunday night damaged the mosque in lower Assam’s Baksa district, triggering tension in the area.

On Wednesday, the third day of the budget session, the Assembly witnessed a war of words with Congress MLA Nurul Huda raising doubts over a “conspiracy” behind the attack. He said, “It’s not a lone incident. In February, one Khairul Haque was shot dead in Udalguri and in 2017, Lafiqul Islam Ahmed was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Kokrajhar district. In all these cases, no one was arrested. Is it a conspiracy against a certain community?”

Huda’s remark was immediately opposed by ruling BJP legislators who requested Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami to expunge Huda’s comments.

As the heated exchange continued, the Speaker had to intervene and urged all to maintain the decorum of the House.

The Speaker said, “As a member of the House, all public representatives need to have patience, mutual respect and tolerance. A miscreant doesn’t represent any religion or community and therefore, the House members need to appeal for peace.”

The state’s parliamentary affairs minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said, “Immediately after the incident, the Baksa district administration and police swung into action and brought the situation under control. Peace meetings were held too. The police are investigating the matter on priority and the culprits will be brought to justice.”

On Tuesday, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) demanded a judicial probe into the incident. AIUDF legislator Rafiqul Islam said, “We suspect that like in New Delhi, some elements in the state are trying to trigger communal violence. The government must identify them and order a judicial probe. The judicial probe report should also be placed before the House.”

Islam suspected that criminals were trying to create disturbances in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) area as the BTC polls are due in April. BTC chairman Hagrama Mohilary, too, had said “unknown elements” were trying to create unrest ahead of the polls.

The All Bodoland Minority Students’ Union, too, demanded “justice”.