Guwahati, Oct 26: Hours after the Goalpara district administration sealed a ‘miya museum’ set up in a house under the PMAY-G scheme, three persons have been detained from three districts in connection with a case registered at a police station in Nalbari district.
Special DGP (law and order) G.P Singh informed that Tanu Dhadumia of Dibrugarh district, Mohar Ali of Goalpara district and Abdul Baten of Dhubri district have been detained in connection with a case (number 163/22) registered at Ghograpar police station under Sections 120(B)/121/121(A)/122 of IPC, read with Sections 10/13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Police sources on Wednesday said the detained persons are being interrogated in connection with the case.
Special DGP Singh said that investigation and interrogation would be carried out to find out whether the detained persons were associated with terror outfits such as Al Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS) and Bangladesh terror outfit, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), which is affiliated to AQIS.
Dhadumia is a resident of Kawaimari village under Namrup police station and is reported to have inaugurated the ‘miya museum’ at Dapkarbhita village under Lakhipur revenue circle of Goalpara district last Sunday
Ali and Baten are reportedly office-bearers of the All Assam Miya Parishad which took the initiative to open the ‘museum’ .
The Parishad claims to exhibit items that reflect the culture of the migrant Muslim population in the state.
Countering its claims, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on Tuesday claimed that the museum in question exhibited traditional items that reflect the culture of the greater Assamese society in general and not just the migrant Muslim community.
The chief minister had also said that the persons responsible for setting up the museum would be interrogated and could even face legal action if they failed to provide a satisfactory explanation.
Within a few hours after the chief minister made the statement, the Goalpara district administration sealed the ‘museum.’
Various sections, including the indigenous Muslim community of the state, have criticised the Parishad’s move to set up such a ‘museum’.
It may be recalled that a couple of years back, former Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed had stirred up a debate when he proposed the setting up of a ‘miya museum’ at Sankardev Kalakshetra here for “highlighting the culture and heritage of people living in the char-chapori (riverine) areas of Assam.