New Delhi: Controversial remarks on “Miya Muslims” – a reference to Bengali-speaking Muslims – by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma have led to the filing of a police complaint against him. A former chief justice of the Allahabad high court, Justice Govind Mathur, has also come out and said that by “spreading fear, exclusion or hatred” Sarma may well be “guilty of undermining the foundations of the Indian Republic”.Harsh Mander, peace and justice worker and writer, said he had filed a police complaint against Sarma over the latter’s public statements made on Tuesday (January 27) that he says “promote hatred, harassment and discrimination against Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam”.Mander says he has sought prompt action and the registration of an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including sections 196 (promoting enmity between groups and doing acts prejudicial to harmony), 197 (making assertions prejudicial to national integration), 299 (malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 302 (uttering words intending to wound religious feelings) and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief).He has requested a proper investigation and immediate steps to prevent such statements in future as the special revision (SR) process goes forward in Assam.As per a press note issued by Mander, he filed the complaint at the Hauz Khas police station in Delhi. There is no word on if the complaint has been taken forward.On Tuesday at an official event in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma had termed Bengali-speaking Muslims “Miya” and made statements encouraging their harassment, discrimination against them and the deletion of their names from the voter rolls, Mander said.He also recalled that Sarma admitted to directing members of the BJP to file complaints and objections during the voter roll revision process against members of the community.“My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma had said on Tuesday, going on to exhort listeners to “trouble” the community “in any way” possible. “In a rickshaw, if the fare is Rs 5, give them Rs 4. Only if they face troubles will they leave Assam,” the chief minister said.“Himanta Biswa Sarma and the BJP are directly against Miyas … We are saying it openly; we are not hiding it,” the Indian Express had quoted him as saying. “We are ensuring that they cannot vote in Assam,” he also said.Earlier too Sarma had said his government would continue to “disturb” the ‘Miyas’ to “tame them down”.He’d denied that there were any controversies regarding the revision and rejected the charge that members of the opposition have levelled – that the misuse of Form 7 (which enables an existing voter to file an objection to another person’s inclusion in the electoral list, or to delete their own or another’s name in the list due to death or change of residence) is harassing genuine citizens in the state.Sarma strongly defended the special revision, suggesting the notices are being served only to “Miya” Muslims and not to indigenous communities.In Golaghat, Assam on Thursday, Sarma defended his remarks. He said that those who came from Bangladesh refer to themselves as ‘Miya’ and that he did not coin the term, reported NDTV.The Election Commission is conducting the SIR of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union territories, but Assam has been placed under an SR exercise, which resembles routine updates to the rolls. Sarma said on Tuesday that “this [the SR] is preliminary. When the SIR comes to Assam, four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam,” signalling that he was unconcerned about criticism from political opponents.There has been no comment from the Election Commission on the chief minister saying he was deliberately working to exclude a section of the population from the electoral rolls.‘High time to demand resignation of a CM who spreads hatred’: retired judgeJustice (retd.) Govind Mathur, former chief justice of the Allahabad high court, has said in a statement that Sarma’s utterances amounted to an attempt to divide citizens on the basis of religion and violated the basic principles of India’s constitutional framework.He pointed out that Article 14 guarantees equality before the law, Article 15 prohibits discrimination on religious grounds and Article 21 protects the dignity of every individual.“As Chief Minister, Mr Sarma has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, and his words carry the authority of the state,” the former chief justice said. He warned that rhetoric promoting fear, exclusion or hatred undermines constitutional morality and weakens the foundations of the Indian republic.Justice Mathur has also stated that communal remarks by those holding public office normalise prejudice and encourage hatred in society, which he said has no place in a constitutional democracy. Leaders dividing citizens along religious lines act against India’s pluralistic ethos and federal responsibility, he said.Questioning the suitability of someone holding a constitutional office who then goes on to depart from principles of impartiality and equality, Justice Mathur said that “India’s strength lies in unity, reason and the rule of law, not in communal polarisation.” He asserted that spreading communal hatred amounts to a punishable offence under the law and said it was time to demand accountability from those in power.Justice Mathur also added that it was high time to demand the resignation of a “Chief Minister who spreads communal hatred which is a crime under our law”.