New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday slammed the Assam government over indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley being detained under the National Security Act, alleging that the use of the NSA against him was part of a growing pattern of BJP governments “weaponising” extraordinary laws to silence dissent.
The opposition party also said this is a “blatant misuse” of preventive detention laws and “overreach” by the state.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that on July 30, the Assam Government invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against land rights activist Doley, just a day after the district court granted him bail.
“This is a blatant misuse of preventive detention laws and overreach by the state,” Ramesh said on X.
Doley has been arrested for supporting villagers who protested against a proposed five-star resort near the Kaziranga National Park that the Assam chief minister had backed, he said.
Since 2022, indigenous residents of Golaghat have protested and even petitioned the Gauhati High Court against the project, arguing the land was forcibly acquired from them, Ramesh said.
While granting him bail on July 29, the sessions court had observed that “where ecological preservation intersects with indigenous survival, criminal law cannot be used to suppress legitimate local anxieties”, Ramesh said.
It is clear that the Assam government invoked the NSA to do exactly that, he alleged.
Doley’s NSA detention order relies on vague and speculative allegations, including that Doley had engaged in “suspicious foreign transactions from doubtful sources”, which is the Modi government’s familiar script, the Congress leader said.
“The use of the NSA against Doley is part of a growing pattern of BJP governments weaponising extraordinary laws to silence dissent,” Ramesh said.
Similar attempts have been witnessed in Uttar Pradesh, where the NSA was invoked against labour activists protesting against exploitative working conditions in Noida, he said.
BJP governments across the country cannot suppress legitimate grievances of working-class, indigenous, and marginalised communities through arrests and draconian laws, he said.
“The Assam Government continues to show utter disregard for the rule of law and for democratic dissent. The Supreme Court and several high courts have repeatedly cautioned that preventive detention laws must not be used as a device to defeat or circumvent judicial orders granting bail, or merely to prolong a person’s incarceration,” the Congress leader said.
His remarks come after Doley was detained under the stringent NSA, a day after securing bail in a case related to protests against a proposed five-star hotel near Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, criticising the move on Saturday, maintained that it shows the state government does not allow dissent, as he also mentioned Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma “threatening” to use NSA against artists over a mural of singer Zubeen Garg in Guwahati.
Doley, who was arrested in Guwahati on July 13 and lodged in Golaghat district jail, was granted bail by a court on Wednesday in connection with the June protest.
However, the state government invoked the NSA against him on Thursday, ensuring his continued detention in the same jail, according to the order.
The order issued by the Political (A) Department said the government was satisfied that Doley’s activities were “prejudicial to the maintenance of public order as well as security of the state” and that there was a “real and imminent possibility” of him continuing such activities if released.
Stating that preventive detention was necessary, the order, issued under Section 3(2) of the NSA, 1980, directed that Doley be detained and kept in custody at the Golaghat District Jail.
Doley has been spearheading protests against the proposed five-star hotel near the UNESCO World Heritage Site Kaziranga National Park, alleging that the project poses a threat to the area’s fragile ecology.
A peasants’ rights activist, Doley had also unsuccessfully contested the April assembly elections from the Bokakhat constituency against AGP president Atul Bora, a state cabinet minister.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
