The BJP-led Assam government has banned the physical or online publication and distribution “of any radical or jihadi” literature or documents, citing the need to “safeguard internal security and prevent vulnerable youth from extremist propaganda”.
In exercise of Section 98 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the government has declared publication, printing, circulation, distribution, sale, exhibition, possession and storage — physical or digital — of any radical or jihadi literature or material linked to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), Ansar-Al-Islam/pro-AQIS or any similar banned or affiliated outfit.
It has also put a similar ban on websites, social media pages, encrypted channels, online groups propagating extremist content.
According to a notification issued on Wednesday, Section 98 of the BNSS empowers the state government “to forfeit” publications containing material punishable under laws that prohibit promoting enmity between groups (Section 196 BNS), acts prejudicial to national integration (Section 197 BNS), and deliberate acts to outrage religious feelings (Section 299 BNS).
The notification issued by the commissioner of the home and political department followed a proposal moved by the assistant inspector-general of police (law and order) on October 10 and observations made by the judicial department on November 26.
The notification stated that intelligence inputs, cyber-patrolling reports and recent investigations by Assam police and the Special Task Force (STF) indicate continued circulation, possession and dissemination of radical or jihadi literature, publications and digital propaganda materials linked to proscribed organisations.
The material includes content “glorifying violent jihad, promoting radicalisation, providing ideological indoctrination, and facilitating recruitment, operational guidance, and incitement against the sovereignty of India, thereby posing a grave threat to public order, internal security and communal harmony”.
Wednesday’s order directed Assam police, the Special Branch, CID, district police chiefs, cyber crime units and all law-enforcement agencies to ensure strict enforcement.
Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) spokesperson Ziaur Rahman said: “The threat of foreign-backed radical elements is not something new in Assam… Any order to curb extremist or jihadi propaganda should not be viewed as something extraordinary, but as part of the state’s routine and continuous security duty.”
Rahman added that the AJP demands “vigilant enforcement without communal profiling and political misuse, so that Assam’s peace, unity and secular environment remain protected”.
“While enforcing this order, Assam police must ensure that it is not misused,” he said.