Guwahati, Feb 6: Over 40 prominent citizens, including academics, doctors, authors, and retired bureaucrats, have written to Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar, urging the court to take suo motu cognisance of recent remarks by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims, commonly referred to as ‘Miyas’.

In their letter dated Thursday, the signatories described the CM’s statements as “hate speech, executive intimidation, and open vilification” of a community that has been part of Assamese society for over a century. They warned that such remarks could promote dehumanisation, collective stigmatisation, and threats of state-sponsored harassment, in violation of the Chief Minister’s constitutional oath.

Key concerns highlighted included Sarma’s suggestion to pay rickshaw-pullers from the community less than the standard fare and his instruction to BJP workers to file objections against them during the ongoing Special Revision of electoral rolls, which the group described as a partisan misuse of a quasi-judicial process.

Among the 43 signatories are academician Hiren Gohain, former DGP Harekrishna Deka, ex-archbishop Thomas Menamparampil, Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Bhuyan, environmentalist Dulal Chandra Goswami, retired principal T R Borbora, advocate Santanu Borthakur, trade union leader Garga Talukdar, and author Arupa Patangia Kalita.

The letter emphasised that the remarks undermine secularism—a basic structure of the Constitution—fuel enmity on religious grounds, and erode public trust in governance. The citizens urged the court to direct authorities to register cases for hate speech and rights violations, protect the community’s dignity, and reaffirm constitutional discipline.

They also cautioned that judicial inaction could normalise such transgressions and weaken the Constitution’s moral authority.