A group of 10 citizens has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court, flagging the speeches by the Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and other constitutional functionaries as “derogatory and exclusionary.”
The petitioners have referred to the recent comments of Assam CM on ‘Miya Muslims’ and a now-deleted video generated by artificial intelligence and shared by the BJP in Assam, which showed Sarma, appearing to shoot at an image of Muslims.
It is stated that the CM has previously termed citizens belonging to one community as responsible for rising prices of vegetables, causing “love jihad’ and even ‘flood jihad’. The petitioners allege that CM also went to the extent of saying that he wanted to remove four to five lakh voters belonging to that religious group from the electoral rolls.
The plea raises concerns over alleged statements by individuals holding high constitutional and public offices, claiming they promote hatred and violate constitutional values and public decorum.
It also refers to statements attributed to Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane and remarks allegedly made by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in public discourse, which the petition claims could fuel social tensions. The petitioners argue that such statements undermine constitutional morality, social harmony, and democratic values. They have urged the apex court to lay down clear guidelines governing public statements by individuals occupying high constitutional and administrative positions.
The matter is expected to come up for hearing before the Supreme Court, with attention now focused on whether the court will frame broader norms on hate speech and accountability in public life.
