A Congress leader from Assam died on Wednesday afternoon after complaining of uneasiness during the party’s Raj Bhawan Chalo protest, where the police used tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) promptly declared Mridul Islam as the “first martyr” of the party’s fight against the BJP’s “misrule and corruption” and lodged a complaint with the Latasil police here, seeking an independent and appropriate action against those response for the “excessive and unlawful use of force”.
Islam, 45, hailed from Boko in Kamrup district and was the secretary of the PCC’s Legal Cell and Digital Bahini. He was married and a father of two.
The PCC also declared that party flags will fly at half mast. The party will also hold an all-faith prayer at their offices across Assam, along with a sit-in protest on Thursday.
Islam’s photo was uploaded by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a post on X, asserting that the fight for truth and the Constitution will continue.
Hundreds had assembled at a school near the Raj Bhawan for the protest against the BJP-led Centre’s “inaction” against businessman Gautam Adani’s “corrupt practices”, the Manipur unrest, and the installation of electricity smart meters which has led to “a steep rise” in power bills of consumers.
According to the police, Congress had “not” sought permission for the protest, which was attended by over 1000 people and the protesters had “broken through” two police barricades and were stopped at the third barricade where “gas smoke” was used.
“We did not use force. We only rolled out three tear smoke (gas). After a while, the protesters dispersed. We received the news that a person had been taken ill. He was first taken to Wintrobe Hospital, then he was referred to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. We conducted the inquest. The was no external injury. Cause of the death will be known in the post mortem report,” police commissioner Diganta Barah said.
Guwahati District Congress Committee (DCC) president Gopal Sharma claimed they had applied for permission on Tuesday and that the police bandobast and barricades on the road to the Raj Bhawan were proof of the police being aware about the protest.
PCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah said they have declared Islam as the first martyr of the fight against the BJP’s “misrule and corruption”.
Islam’s body was brought to Rajiv Bhawan in the evening, where party members and leaders offered their shradhanjali, then to Boko where his janaja will be performed on Thursday.
Borah said Mridul Islam was “murdered” by the Himanta Biswa Sarma administration while asserting the party will not be cowed down by the police action and strongly protest the BJP’s “misrule” while seeking a judicial inquiry in Islam’s death.
In the police complaint, Assam Congress leaders said the police “without any provocation” used “excessive amount of tear gas on the protesters” and that the use “was also indiscriminate affecting everyone in the vicinity”.
The complaint asserted the protest was peaceful but following the excessive use of tear gas, Islam “collapsed and later died”.
