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Raijor Dal MLAs on Monday staged a protest on the premises of the Assam Legislative Assembly against the arrest of human rights activists Pranab Doley and Aditya Rabha, alleging that the BJP government was targeting those opposing land acquisition in the state.
The legislators, dressed in black shirts and wearing black masks, raised slogans against the arrests. Speaking to reporters, Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi alleged that the Assam government was attempting to hand over land to large corporate groups by weakening legal protections for tribal land. "Yesterday, you saw that a peasant leader from Assam, a farmer leader, Pranab Doley, was arrested. Before that, another leader, a tribal leader, Aditya Rabha, was also arrested. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has planned to give Assam's land to Ramdev, Adani, Ambani and Tata," Gogoi alleged. He further claimed that the government was targeting the Tribal Belt and Blocks, which he described as a safeguard for tribal land. "For this purpose, they have targeted the strongest safeguard for Assam's land, the Tribal Belt and Blocks, where only tribal people are permitted to reside and settle. The BJP government is seizing this land to hand it over to Adani, Ambani and Ramdev. People had been protesting against this," he said. Gogoi said the arrests were aimed at suppressing the protests and asserted that his party would continue to oppose the government's actions. "Over the last two days, both Aditya Rabha and Pranab Doley were arrested. In protest of this action, we have come to the Assembly today dressed entirely in black... We will never allow the land of the indigenous people, the Assamese people, and those living in Assam to be snatched away. This is our promise," he said. Aditya Rabha was arrested after participating in protests against the proposed acquisition of land for the Satellite City project. Meanwhile, Pranab Doley was arrested on Sunday in connection with a criminal case registered at Bokakhat Police Station following his protest against the proposed construction of luxury hotels in Kaziranga. Doley had raised the issue of alleged land allocation at Ingle Pathar in Hatikhuli, Kaziranga, claiming that the land had been reclassified and allotted to a hospitality company. (ANI)
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