'Miya' poet expresses regret if his writing hurt Assamese sentiments

A leading 'Miya' poet, who was among the 10 poets booked after a video of his poem about alleged discrimination towards Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam was shared online, expressed regret if his writing had hurt Assamese sentiments.

Hafiz Ahmed said he had written the poem in 2016 and it was not related to the citizenship determination exercise, whose final list is slated to be released on July 31.

"I cannot think of insulting Assamese sentiment through my poems. I had contributed to Assamese literature since long," Ahmed said in a statement on Saturday.

"I was even physically assaulted for standing in support of Assamese language," he said. "Still, if my poem has hurt the sentiments of anyone, then I express my regret."