Akhil Gogoi Claims Assam Is Dictatorship And Likens It To “The Emergency”
Guwahati: Akhil Gogoi, the chief of the Raijor Dal and an MLA from Sivasagar of Assam, raised concerns about the moves taken by the Sivasagar administration on Friday to compel leaders of regional organisations to sign bonds prohibiting them from organising protests for the ensuing year.
Akhil Gogoi compared it to the time when the Indira Gandhi-led Centre put the country into Emergency and described it as a brazen attack on the fundamental constitutional freedom to protest against decisions made by the elected government.
The Sivasagar MLA claims that the heads of regional organisations are summoned to appear before Executive Magistrate Jiwan Krishna Goswami where they are coerced into signing documents that forbid them from protesting for the ensuing 12 months.
In a post on social media, Akhil Gogoi wrote, “A repeat of the state of emergency is taking place in Assam. It is a terrible incident that was unheard of before. I heard that such incidents happened in India during the Emergency (1975-77). It has started again during the Himanta Biswa Sharma government, during the BJP-RSS rule.”
“In the past few days, the leaders of various organizations in Assam have been summoned by the Sivasagar administration and made to sign a bond saying they will not be able to continue the agitation for the next year,” Akhil Gogoi added.
He took the names of five leaders who were coerced into signing the bonds. They are Chitu Baruah, state president of Assam Sangrami Sena, Rantu Paniphukan, principal secretary of state of Bir Lachit Sena, Debajit Dutta, state president of Sangrami Yuba Chatra Parishad, Prasanta Borgohain, district president of Asomiya Yuba Mancha and Anupam Handique, distrct general secretary of Bir Lachit Sena.
Akhil Gogoi claimed that these individuals told him they had been given the option of signing the bonds or facing imprisonment. They are unable to plan agitations or use their speech to mobilise the public in support of protests because of their bonds.
“First, the police called Anupam. No notice was served to him. He was brought before Executive Magistrate Jiwan Krishna Goswami and made to sign the bond. The next four were summoned under Section 107 of the CRPC. They got the bond signed. Today, the principal secretary of the Bir Lachit Sena also signed the bond,” Akhil Gogoi wrote in his post.
He further wrote, “This is the BJP-RSS’ Assam. This is Himanta Biswa Sarma’s government in Assam. This is Assam today. This is the change. This is agitation-free Assam!”
Akhil Gogoi further questioned, “Do you want an Assam without freedom of speech? Do you really want an Assam without democratic rights? Do you want a state without protest; where free killings will be committed daily by the state, where prices will rise daily but you will not be able to raise your voice, where public resources will be handed over to capitalists daily, where illegal syndicates will continue but you cannot call them out, where conspiracies against the country, nation and people will continue every day but you will be forced to keep your mouth shut.”
Sharing a copy of the alleged bonds, Akhil Gogoi further asked the people to come out and speak against this “dictatorship” in his post.
