Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma triggered a firestorm by suggesting that artists should paint fugitive insurgent leader Paresh Baruah rather than Che Guevara on city walls. The comment followed a dispute over a distorted mural of singer Zubeen Garg on a Guwahati flyover. Sarma dismissed the Argentine revolutionary as a stranger to Assam, pointedly offering the head of the banned ULFA-I as a local alternative.
Baruah is a wanted man. He leads an armed group pushing for secession from India and rejects existing peace deals. Legal experts warn that the Chief Minister is treading on thin ice. Supreme Court lawyer Upmanyu Hazarika argues the remarks essentially elevate a militant to a hero. Hazarika noted, "What message is the head of the state sending out? That Paresh Baruah is someone who needs to be deified and glorified."
The optics remain sharp. State authorities previously used the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to arrest a nineteen-year-old student for writing a poem deemed sympathetic to the outfit. Critics now point to the contradiction of a government that criminalizes minor displays of support while its leader suggests painting a mural of the commander-in-chief himself.
Sarma pushed back against the criticism. He claimed he never encouraged anyone to actually paint the insurgent and promised prosecution for anyone who tries. The Chief Minister told India Today NE, "I made it clear that we do not endorse anything Paresh Barua does." He insists his goal is peace, not promotion. For now, the public debate centers on whether a government official can distinguish between tactical negotiation and accidental glorification.
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