Assam court acquits student-poet of sedition charges

Barshashree Buragohain from Teok was released from Golaghat district jail on July 22, two months after her arrest for a Facebook post allegedly glorifying the ULFA(I)

Poet Barshashree Buragohain was acquitted of sedition charges | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

 A court in eastern Assam’s Golaghat on March 16 acquitted poet Barshashree Buragohain of sedition charges. 

Ms Buragohain, an undergraduate student pursuing mathematics, was arrested on May 18, 2022, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly praising the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) and calling for rebellion against the nation. 

A resident of Teok in Jorhat district, she was arrested from her friend’s house in the adjoining Golaghat district for uploading an “objectionable poem inviting sedition” on Facebook. She was released on bail from the Golaghat district jail on July 22, 2022. 

“We have finally received justice,” her brother, Arindom Buragohain told journalists after the Golaghat district and sessions court’s verdict. 

The lines of her Assamese poem that the local authorities objected to were: “One more step in the direction of the sun of liberty. I will commit treason once more.” 

The rising sun is the symbol of the ULFA(I). These lines were construed as “criminal conspiracy” and “intent to wage war against the Indian government” in the FIR against her.