Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday criticised Assam's BJP government for detaining land rights activist Pranab Doley under the National Security Act (NSA), calling it “a blatant misuse of preventive detention laws” in a statement posted on X.
Doley, convenor of the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee (GKLHRPC), was detained under the NSA on July 30, a day after a Golaghat sessions court granted him bail. He had been arrested on July 12 in connection with protests against a proposed luxury hotel near the Kaziranga National Park. Ramesh alleged that the resort project was backed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
“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. While granting him bail on 29 July, the Sessions Court had observed that ‘where ecological preservation intersects with indigenous survival, criminal law cannot be used to suppress legitimate local anxieties’. It is clear that the Assam government invoked the NSA to do exactly that,” the Congress general secretary and communications chief wrote.
On accusations of ‘foreign funding’
He also questioned the grounds cited in the detention order, which allege Doley was involved in “suspicious foreign transactions from doubtful sources”. Ramesh called this “the Modi government's familiar script”.
{{/usCountry}}He also questioned the grounds cited in the detention order, which allege Doley was involved in “suspicious foreign transactions from doubtful sources”. Ramesh called this “the Modi government's familiar script”.
{{/usCountry}}“The use of the NSA against Doley is part of a growing pattern of BJP governments weaponising extraordinary laws to silence dissent. 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.
He stressed that BJP governments “cannot suppress legitimate grievances of working-class, indigenous, and marginalised communities through arrests and draconian laws”, and accused the Assam government of “utter disregard for the rule of law”.
The Supreme Court and several HCs have said preventive detention laws must not be used to get around bail orders or to keep someone in custody longer, he noted.
What NSA order says
The Assam government's NSA order says Doley's activities were “prejudicial to the maintenance of public order as well as security of the State”. It cites 13 police cases against him dating back to 2017 and alleges he received funding from foreign sources, listing visits to countries including Spain, Italy, Thailand, the UAE, Nepal, Norway, the Philippines, Switzerland and Malaysia.
The Golaghat sessions court, while granting Doley bail on July 29, had said police could not produce evidence of “deadly weapons” among the protesters as alleged, and found no video material supporting claims that women police personnel had been assaulted during the protest.
NSA allows detention up to six months at a time; it was recently used against Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk, though who was freed in March and later became a face of the Cockroach Janta Party-led youth protest in Delhi.