Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has raised serious concerns over what he described as a sudden surge in foreign-linked social media activity targeting the state’s political narrative. Addressing the media, Sarma alleged that a coordinated network of “hardcore Islamic fundamentalist elements” is actively promoting content supporting the Assam Congress and a specific political leader from the state.
According to Sarma, nearly 5,000 Facebook accounts have been activated over the past month. Many of these profiles have been posting content sympathetic to Iran, Palestine, and Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. He clarified that these accounts are not engaging with national political figures like Rahul Gandhi or the Indian National Congress (INC) in general. Instead, they seem exclusively focused on Assam Congress-related pages and content.
“These are not ordinary political profiles. Many are sharing radical Islamic content that has no connection with the ideology of Assam’s indigenous Muslim community,” Sarma said.
In response, the Assam government has initiated a forensic audit of the identified accounts. A preliminary analysis of 2,092 Facebook profiles showed that a significant number of them are operated from outside India. The Chief Minister shared a country-wise breakdown as follows:
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Bangladesh: 618
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Pakistan: 236
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Kuwait: 88
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France: 54
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Palestine: 2
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Brazil: 6
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Egypt: 6
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Afghanistan: 35
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Germany: 4
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Indonesia: 16
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Jordan: 10
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Iraq: 8
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Italy: 3
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Albania: 4
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Australia: 2
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Canada: 1
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Colombia: 1
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Libya: 1
Sarma stated that these profiles appear to belong to a “particular community” and are under close observation due to their consistent display of radical online behavior.
“These accounts aren’t following Rahul Gandhi or the INC. Their focus is entirely Assam-specific. That clearly indicates a different kind of digital interference is being attempted,” he said, hinting at a broader strategy to manipulate Assam’s socio-political atmosphere.
The Chief Minister added that the forensic investigation is still underway and assured that more details will be disclosed in the coming days.
