Not meant to cage activists: Gogoi hits out at Assam govt over NSA on Doley

Indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley has been detained under the stringent National Security Act (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 National Security Act, 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.

Reacting to the government's move, Gogoi said in a post on X, "NSA is meant for grave threats to India's security, not to cage social activists."

He also mentioned how the chief minister "publicly threatened to use NSA to target artists over a Zubeen Garg mural", referring to Sarma's tough posture against drawings on public property without due permission following a controversy over erasing a picture of Garg under a flyover in Guwahati during a city beautification drive in June.

"Now, slapping NSA on Pranab Doley after bail, despite global rights bodies and past Human Rights Watch warnings on its misuse in Assam – shows a government that does not allow dissent," the Congress MP added.