Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta stated “simply stay in jail” in response to mounting calls to release a 19-year-old girl who has been imprisoned for nearly two months for allegedly writing a poem in support of proscribed terrorist organisation ULFA on Facebook. The teenager, named as Barshashree Buragohain, was arrested on May 18 in Uriamghat, Golaghat district, and charged under the UAPA for penning a poem titled “Akou Korim Rashtra Droh”
“Poetry writing is not a terrible thing. I also compose poetry, but Barshashree was apprehended solely because she wrote that she would be joining ULFA,” the DGP stated to reporters on Tuesday. “She wrote that she would also bring others with her. So, young lady, you don’t have to go to ULFA; just stay in jail,” he continued. The arrest of Barshashree, an undergraduate mathematics student, has sparked significant outrage across the state.
Students, opposition parties, and intellectuals rallied behind her and demanded her release as soon as possible. Meanwhile, her parents have pleaded with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to release their daughter so that she can complete her semester-end exams.
Special DGP (law and order) GP Singh tweeted on Wednesday, “When someone publicly professes support for a banned outfit and declares intent of waging war against the Indian state, we are legally bound to prosecute that person. Following due process, chargesheet shall be filed in competent court of law. Let the law take its own (sic). ”
