Allegation of handing over Kaziranga land to capitalists while incarcerating indigenous people.▪️ Congress extends full support to citizens’ meet in Bokakhat demanding Pranab Doley’s release.▪️ Debabrata Saikia and Ripun Bora slam BJP government’s repressive tactics.
Dalim Phukan
Hills Live News, Guwahati, September 5: A citizens’ protest meeting was held today in Bokakhat demanding the unconditional release of activist Pranab Doley, who has been detained under the National Security Act (NSA) for opposing the government’s move to evict local indigenous farmers in Kaziranga and hand over their land to corporate interests. Widespread resentment flared up when the auditorium of the Mising Rest House in Bokakhat was kept locked this morning, despite the organizers having secured official administrative clearance and paid the required rental fee. Refusing to yield to government-orchestrated pressure, the organizers shifted the gathering to an adjacent site. The main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, took part actively in the protest, extending its unreserved backing to the demand for Doley’s release.
Addressing the gathering, former MLA and senior Congress leader Debabrata Saikia voiced fierce opposition to the autocratic tendencies of the state government. He remarked that the ruling dispensation is undermining the Constitution and using the machinery of the police and administration to intimidate the public. Saikia stressed that public funds sanctioned by Parliament and the State Assembly cannot be misused to harass citizens or sow communal division. Pointing out that Doley had already secured bail in an earlier case before being slapped with the NSA on unfounded charges of anti-national activity, Saikia stated that standing up for the rights of the working class and defending one’s ancestral land can never be construed as treason. He accused the administration of stripping citizens of their fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.
Drawing a historical contrast, Saikia noted that former Chief Minister Sarat Chandra Sinha’s government had empowered tillers through the historic “Land to the Tiller” policy and granted tenancy rights (rayati khatian), whereas the current regime is undoing those safeguards to serve corporate tycoons. Citing the displacement at Mikir Bamuni Grant in Nagaon for Azure Power’s solar project, he alleged that a similar pattern is unfolding in Kaziranga’s Englepathar to facilitate a luxury Hyatt hotel within an eco-sensitive zone. He further criticised the government for bypassing the compensation mandates of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, by offering inadequate payouts from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Saikia asserted that locking hall doors would not silence dissent; instead, it has laid bare the administration’s arbitrary conduct.
Echoing these concerns, former Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Ripun Bora strongly criticized the BJP-led government, alleging a persistent design to transfer indigenous landholdings to outside capitalists. He noted that whenever local communities resist these takeovers, the state responds by clamping down with draconian charges like sedition to protect vested corporate interests. The leaders resolved to continue defending the rights of the local inhabitants of Kaziranga, warning the state government of intensified statewide protests if Pranab Doley is not freed immediately.