Abdul Kalam Azad

Azad is one of the “Miya” (Bengali-language Muslim) poets charged in July 2019 after the online publication of a poem by Hafiz Ahmed that authorities claimed promoted sectarian enmity in the state of Assam. On July 17, 2019, all ten poets were granted anticipatory bail after a police case was filed accusing them of inciting communal unrest. The charges were widely condemned as an attack on artistic expression and minority identity.