Mahanta, who turned up at a special convention of the State unit of the Jamiat-e-Ulema-Hind here yesterday, said that while he had only stated that members of some madrasa schools and mosques had been arrested following confessions made by the four ISI operatives in the State, ``a section of the local press distorted it''.

``Moreover, it was the ISI operatives who had said that they were inciting the local Muslims to work for creation of an Islamic state in Assam. I had only quoted what they had said during interrogation,'' Mahanta said.

He also asserted that the ISI operatives had confessed they were going to create a law and order problem, as well as chaos and mistrust among differentcommunities in the State, which he hoped, no Muslim would support.``It does not mean that all the mosques or madrasa schools are hide-outs of ISI operatives, simply because they had visited one or two of them,'' Mahanta said.

Mahanta's attending the Jamiat State Committee special session had significance in view of the elections; as some political parties, including the UMF and the Congress were trying to create an impression that the AGP-led Government was out to harass the minorities.

In fact, the bogey of harassment on minorities is a regular one during elections in Assam, in view of the fact that minorities have a sizeable population and determine the election results in several constituencies. The arrest of some local Muslims after the nabbing of four ISI operatives has only provided a handle to those looking for an opportunity to raise the bogey again.

The Jamiat leaders in turn pledged that they would help the Government in nabbing culprits.