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Indian police have arrested scores of individuals in the northeastern state of Assam for allegedly “sympathising” with Pakistan, roughly a month after the two nuclear-armed rivals engaged in their most intense conflict in decades.
Assam’s Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party, announced that “81 anti-nationals are now behind bars for sympathising with Pak.”
He stated that authorities are continuously monitoring social media for “anti-national posts” and taking action.
Assam police confirmed to AFP that one person was arrested specifically for posting a Pakistani flag on Instagram, though no further details on other arrests were provided.
This crackdown on social media follows an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, which was the deadliest civilian attack in the disputed Muslim-majority region in decades.
India blamed Pakistan for backing the Islamist militants responsible, a charge Islamabad denied. This led to a four-day conflict, the worst standoff between India and Pakistan since 1999, which concluded with a ceasefire on May 10.
Beyond these arrests, India’s counter-terrorism agency last month detained a paramilitary police officer suspected of spying for Pakistan. Local media also reported at least 10 other arrests on espionage charges in May.
Chief Minister Sarma is also spearheading efforts to address the controversial issue of illegal immigration, particularly given Assam’s long and permeable border with Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
Indian media outlets have reported that the Assam government has allegedly rounded up dozens of suspected Bangladeshis in the past month, taking them to the border for expulsion.
The Times of India on Saturday claimed Assam was “dumping them in no-man’s land,” suggesting at least 49 individuals were pushed back between May 27 and 29 alone. The Assam government has not yet commented on these reports.
Relations between India and Bangladesh have reportedly cooled since the Dhaka government was overthrown in an uprising last year, with Bangladesh increasingly aligning itself with China and Pakistan.
