Days after two imams were arrested in Goalpara districts for their alleged links with terror outfits, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday designed Standard Operating Procedure to ensure that imams and other people coming to madarsas from other states register their names on the government portal.
“We have made some SoP that if any imam comes to your village and you do not know him, immediately inform the Police Station, they will verify, only after that, they can stay. Our Muslim community of Assam is helping us in this work”, Sarma said on August 22. He added that those who are from Assam, do not need to register their names on the portal.
We’re also making a portal for Imam & other people who are coming to madrasa from outside the state. Those who are from Assam, do not need to register their names in that portal, people from outside will have to register their names in the portal: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma pic.twitter.com/te7HUS3785
— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2022
According to the reports, the government portal is being created only for Imams and other people who are coming to madarsas from outside the state. Assam CM however failed to specify when the SOPs or portal will be introduced.
This comes days after the two imams named Abdus Subhan (43) and Jalaluddin Sheikh (49) were arrested by the Assam Police from Goalpara district. Several incriminating documents, phones, and SIM cards were also seized from their possession. According to the Police, the two were associated with the terror outfits named Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) which is based out of Bangladesh.
The Assam CM then revealed that one of the arrested terrorists was found to be a kingpin who, besides working as an imam, was involved in expanding the terror network. The same was confirmed by Goalpara SP VV Rakesh Reddy who added that the accused would provide logistic support to those further associated with the two terror groups. “They were also recruiting people for new ‘jihadi’ sleeper cells in Goalpara and were getting logistical support from AQIS and ABT,” Reddy was quoted.
Reportedly, Abdus Subhan worked as a cleric of Tinkonia Shantipur Masjid under Mornoi police station and Jalaluddin worked as a cleric of Tilapara Masjid under Matia police station.
Earlier this month, CM Sarma had stated that Assam had become a hub of jihadi operations and also cited the seizure of five jihadi modules with links to Al Qaida-affiliated terror organizations in Bangladesh in the previous four months. “According to intelligence inputs, at least six ABT members from Bangladesh entered India illegally between 2016 and 2017 to set up terror modules and sleeper cells by indoctrinating local youths about jihadi ideology. While one of them, who was working as an Arabic teacher as well as an imam in Barpeta district, has been arrested, the others are missing”, he had noted.
He further mentioned that the madarsas in Assam were becoming the hub of all kinds of jihadi activities. Without generalizing the statement he had said that all those arrested in the past had some or the other connection with the mosques. “These people were working as preachers in mosques as a cover job. They aimed to wage ‘jihad’ against India and establish the ‘Shariat’ law. Several training camps were set up by them, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. “They were trained in tradecraft, radicalization, indoctrination, gun training, and bomb-making,” he had said.
The state administration apparently closed down over 800 madarsas and transformed them into ordinary schools months ago. According to Sarma, Assam has around 1500 madrassas, and efforts are being made to guarantee that they are registered and that the identities of the professors are documented.
