Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s tweet targeting former U.S. President Barack Obama not only made international headlines but also drew sharp rebuke from Opposition parties, with some of them calling it Islamophobia.
Reacting to a tweet by a journalist wondering if the Assam Police would seek to arrest Mr. Obama over his remarks on the rights of minorities in India, Mr. Sarma had said on Friday that there were many “Hussain Obama in India” and his priority would be to deal with them. His tweet said, “There are many Hussain Obama in India itself. We should prioritize taking care of them before considering going to Washington. The Assam police will act according to our own priorities.”
All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge Jitender Singh asked if the Assam CM deliberately wanted to “undermine” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, during a press conference at the White House, had stated that that no one was discriminated in India on the basis on caste, creed or beliefs.
“Here’s the Chief Minister of Assam, sworn to the Constitution of India openly threatening Minorities of dire consequences and not even sparing Mr Modi’s friend Barack in the process — declaring him Hussain Obama! @himantabiswa , are you being your usual self — a hateful bigot or are you actually conspiring to undermine the Prime Minister while he asserted the complete opposite in White House yesterday,” Mr. Singh tweeted, tagging the Twitter handles of Mr. Modi, Mr. Obama and the White House.
Responding to Mr. Singh on Twitter, his colleague, Jairam Ramesh, added, “Do you seriously think the PM was sincere? The CM of Assam is not a fringe element. He is at the very [centre] of the PM’s coterie”.
The official handle of the CPI(M) tweeted, “Himanta Biswa Sarma – you bring disgrace to India with your Islamophobia, your intolerance for any type of questioning.”
The head of the Congress social media team, Supriya Shrinate, tweeted, “’My friend Barack’ is now Hussain Obama!”
“Actually Himanta has answered what PM Modi was asked at White House. His insinuation — about President Obama being a Muslim and Indian Muslims need to be taught a lesson — was the question’s premise. What is the PM, MEA and Govt of India’s stand on this?” asked Ms Shrinate.
Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Clyde Crasto said, “Either he (Mr. Sarma) did not listen to our PM’s statement made in the U.S., or he is disrespectfully disregarding what he said.” Mr. Crasto added that the Assam CM should apologize if the world has to believe what Mr. Modi said at the White House was true.
On Thursday, Mr. Obama, in an interview to CNN, had said that India may “pull apart” if the rights of the religious and ethnic minorities are not upheld.
“If the President meets with Prime Minister Modi, then the protection of the Muslim minority in a Hindu majority India is worth mentioning. If I had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi, who I know well, part of my argument would be that if you don’t protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, there is a strong possibility that India would at some point start pulling apart,” Mr. Obama had told the CNN.
As the comment went viral on social media, a journalist asked if an FIR been filed in Guwahati against Mr. Obama for hurting sentiments and if the Assam Police was on its way to Washington to arrest him.
The social media post by the journalist was a dig at the Assam Police that deplaned and tried to arrest Congress leader Pawan Khera in February for making a statement against Mr. Modi.
