Multiple FIRs filed against Assam college teacher for 'defaming' Padma Bhushan litterateur

Multiple FIRs have been lodged against a college teacher in Assam for allegedly trying to defame Padma Bhushan awardee and renowned Assamese litterateur late Syed Abdul Malik, officials said.

The woman courted controversy after she recently uploaded the first three stanzas of a celebrated poem by Malik -- "Moi Oxomiya" (I am an Assamese) -- on social media, reportedly describing it as "Moghal bondona" (glorification of the Mughals).

Outraged by the post, one FIR was filed against the teacher by the Sadou Asom Goriya Moriya Deshi Jatiya Parishad in Guwahati, and two more by the All Assam Minorities Students Union (AAMSU) in Bongaigaon and Golaghat districts, officials said.

The police complaints said she uploaded only a part of the poem to "defame" Malik, "lower his dignity in public esteem as well as to promote enmity between different religious groups".

The teacher later deleted the post and said on Thursday that she had merely commented on a poem by the Sahitya Akademi awardee and not on all his literary works.

Assam Sahitya Sabha president Kula Saikia condemned the woman's social media post on Malik, while its former president Paramananda Rajbongshi urged people "not to create any controversy" over the "patriotic poem".

The 1941 poem by Malik, who passed away in 2000, is considered to be an ode to Assam, its composite culture and people.