Over 60 Groups Demand Release of Assam Activist Detained Under NSA

More than 60 civil society organisations, trade unions and democratic rights groups have condemned the detention of indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley under the National Security Act (NSA), demanding his immediate release along with others arrested in connection with the ongoing land rights movement around Kaziranga.

In a joint statement, the organisations alleged that the criminal cases against Doley and other Adivasi and indigenous rights defenders were aimed at suppressing their constitutional right to protest and raising concerns over land, environment and development projects.

Doley, convener of the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee (GKLHRPC), was arrested on July 12 in a case registered at Bokakhat police station under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The case followed a June 28 protest against the proposed Hyatt luxury resort project at Inglay Pathar near the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

Four other activists—Amit Nag, Brijit Kutum, Bhaskar Saikia and Rajib Pegu—were also arrested in connection with the case, while the organisations claimed several others had been implicated and remained at risk of arrest.

The groups said the NSA detention order against Doley was served on his family on July 31, even as his bail formalities were being completed following the availability of a signed bail order.

They alleged that invoking the NSA at that stage was an attempt to prevent Doley’s release and bypass the normal legal process.

The organisations argued that defending land and the environment cannot be treated as a threat to national security. They maintained that indigenous communities, farmers and environmental activists have a constitutional right to peacefully raise concerns over land acquisition, displacement, ecological damage and development projects.

The statement also highlighted the proposed luxury resort at Inglay Pathar near Kaziranga, describing the area as an important elephant habitat and movement corridor. The groups said local communities have for years opposed the transfer of land for commercial and tourism projects in the region.

The organisations called for an independent investigation into alleged police excesses, procedural violations and the criminalisation of people opposing the resort project. They also demanded transparency in land allotments and tourism and infrastructure projects around Kaziranga, with meaningful participation of affected communities.

Among their other demands were protection of indigenous, Adivasi, peasant and forest-dependent communities from forced displacement and corporate acquisition of land and natural resources, as well as an immediate end to the use of preventive detention and extraordinary laws against democratic movements and environmental defenders.

The groups also referred to concerns raised by several United Nations experts regarding the arrests and detention of activists and said the experts had called for their immediate release.

The joint statement was endorsed by more than 60 organisations from Assam and other parts of India, including human rights groups, farmers’ organisations, environmental networks, trade unions and indigenous rights bodies.