Assam Youth Congress social media handle operated from Saudi: CM Sarma

Guwahati, June 28 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday claimed that the social media handles of the state Youth Congress has been running from Saudi Arabia.

CM Sarma told reporters here, "The Congress party has immense foreign influence on their social media handles. People from Bangladesh, Pakistan have been regularly posting to show support for Congress. Moreover, the social media handle of Assam Youth Congress has been running from Saudi Arabia."

The CM also asserted that Congress leaders are not asked about foreign influence in their social media profiles.

"I have carefully watched that no media person asks these questions to the Congress leaders," he added.

Earlier, CM Sarma on Friday sounded an alarm over what he described as a coordinated surge of "Islamic fundamentalist" social media activity targeting the state in the run-up to the upcoming Assembly elections.

The Chief Minister claimed that around 5,000 social media accounts had been activated recently with a singular focus on Assam, while showing no engagement with issues concerning the rest of India.

"These accounts don't engage with broader national issues. They only focus on Assam and the Assam Congress. That's the red flag," he said, urging security agencies and the public to view the matter through a national security lens.

He also referred to disturbing narratives being pushed internationally, such as "if you cut the chicken neck, Assam will be independent or can be captured," warning that such rhetoric indicates Assam has long been part of an "unfinished agenda" for certain foreign actors.

According to CM Sarma, a forensic audit conducted by the Assam government into newly-activated Facebook accounts revealed that 2,092 of them had direct foreign links. Among them, 700 accounts were traced to Bangladesh, 350 to Pakistan, over 500 to the Middle East, and smaller numbers from countries including Afghanistan, Indonesia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and even the United States and Australia.

A total of 292 accounts were listed with unspecified locations.

"These accounts mainly propagate extremist ideologies," CM Sarma said.

"Their content ranges from calls for the annihilation of Israel to pushing religious mandates like mandatory Umrah visits. Most of them only like or follow pages related to Assam Congress, which raises serious questions," he said.

He clarified that while the accounts were associated with a particular religious community, the concern was not communal but stemmed from the alleged links to hardline elements.

The Chief Minister reiterated that the presence of such elements in Assam ahead of the polls must be taken seriously.

"This is not just an electoral issue - it's a national security concern," he asserted.

--IANS

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