GUWAHATI
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday (April 26, 2025) said the National Security Act (NSA) would be slapped on anyone in the State found supporting Pakistan, directly or indirectly.
His warning followed the arrest of 11 people, including All India United Democratic Front (AIDUF) MLA Aminul Islam, across the State for alleged anti-India remarks over the Pahalgam terror attack.
“We will arrest anyone who makes an anti-India statement under the NSA,” he said during the release of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s manifesto for the two-phase panchayat polls in May 2025. The event was held at the party’s State headquarters in Guwahati.
On Saturday (April 26, 2025), the Assam police arrested Md. Mustak Ahmed from Saykut village for posting ‘Pakistan zindabad’ on Facebook. Baktar Hussain Barbhuiya from Ramnagar and Md. Imran Hussain Borbhuiya from Malugram Ganiwa were also arrested for pro-Pakistan comments. All three are from southern Assam’s Barak Valley.
The MLA, representing the Dhing constituency, was the first to be arrested on April 24,2025 for allegedly linking the Pahalgam incident and the 2019 Pulwama attack to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. A local court in central Assam’s Nagaon sent him to four days ‘ police custody the following day.
On Friday (Apirl 25, 2025), the Assam police arrested seven people for alleged anti-India comments on social media. Elsewhere in the northeast, the Tripura police arrested two, and the Meghalaya police on similar charges. The arrested people included a journalist, a lawyer, a university student, and a cleric.
“Nehru’s strategic blunder”
The Chief Minister said the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, signed by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was one of the greatest strategic blunders in India’s history.
“Despite India’s natural upper riparian advantage, Nehru, under immense pressure from the then American administration and the World Bank, handed away over 80% of the Indus basin waters to Pakistan — gifting full control over the mighty Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers, while restricting India to the smaller eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej),” he posted on X.
“While Pakistan received a staggering 135 million acre-feet (MAF) of water annually, India was left with just 33 MAF. Worse, India’s rights over the western rivers were limited to minor irrigation and run-of-the-river hydro projects without meaningful storage, permanently compromising the water needs of Punjab, Haryana, and Jammu & Kashmir,” Mr. Sarma said.
He further said Nehru’s “misplaced obsession” with international approval came at the cost of India’s long-term national interest, weakening the country’s strategic and agricultural strength in its own land.
“Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has delivered a historic body blow to this injustice. By initiating India’s withdrawal from the treaty, he has reclaimed India’s sovereign rights over its rivers, sending a clear message that India will no longer reward terror and hostility with appeasement,” he said.
“This bold move strikes at the heart of Pakistan’s fragile economy, where over 75% of agriculture depends on the Indus waters, and corrects a historic betrayal that had shackled India’s rightful control for over six decades. Mr. Modi’s action marks the rise of a new, assertive India — determined to defend its interests without apology,” Mr. Sarma said.
