An Assam court has granted bail to Arif Rahman, a local from Gauripur in Dhubri district, who was arrested in May 2025 as part of a state-wide crackdown on alleged “anti-national” social media activity.
Rahman is "directed to appear before the Investigating Officer of the instant case and chant ‘Jai Hind’ 3 times in the morning for 21 days. The accused is also directed to make a video of the same and upload the said video in his personal Facebook Account/any other social platform daily," said Additional Sessions Judge S.B. Rahman stated in the bail order.
These arrests came in light of the Operation Sindoor which was launched in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians were killed.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has previously justified the arrests by stating that some individuals were “openly celebrating the death of Hindus.”
The Quint also reported last month on the increasing number of arrests and how the state booked them under a range of legal provisions, including the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Information Technology Act, and National Security Act in (AIUDF) MLA Aminul Islam's case.
Now as per CM Sarma's last post, 97 people have been arrested so far. Mostly, Muslims have been arrested so far.
The Quint has a copy of the bail order which stated that Rahman had allegedly created a fake profile on Facebook by the name of Abubin Miraz Uddin Sk.
The complainant alleged "he circulated a post where he shared a post on Facebook with a tag line ”Allahu Akbar Pakistan Zindabad Ebhabei Bharater Paasta Biman Mere Deese” from his alleged fake profile, allegedly praising Pakistan for bringing down Indian jets.
Rahman was arrested on 9 May 2025 and booked under Sections 113(3), 152, 196, 197(1), 352, and 353 of the BNS. He was held in judicial custody for nearly a month before his bail hearing on 6 June.
The court observed, "As far as the allegation against the accused person is concerned, no doubt he has posted certain sensitive content on Facebook which is not in good taste. But, police could recover and seize only mobile phone of accused person and no other incriminating material was recovered to establish the link with any terrorist organisation."
While the Additional Public Prosecutor opposed the bail on the grounds of "national integrity" and "public sentiment", the court noted that the charge sheet had already been filed on 29 May, and there was no need for further custodial investigation.
Although the court remarked that Rahman’s post was “not in good taste,” the bail was granted laying down multiple conditions.
These conditions included appearing regularly before the trial court, submitting valid identification documents, not influencing witnesses, and complying with the directive to chant “Jai Hind” and upload the recordings daily. The order clearly stated that failure to comply would result in automatic cancellation of the bail.