Assam activist held under NSA a day after bail; Congress alleges overreach

The Assam government has placed indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley under preventive detention under the National Security Act (NSA), a day after a district court granted him bail. The Congress has criticised the move, alleging misuse of the law to silence dissent.

Doley was arrested on July 13 in Guwahati in connection with a June protest against a proposed five-star resort near Kaziranga National Park. He was lodged in Golaghat district jail. On July 29, the sessions court granted him bail, observing that "where ecological preservation intersects with indigenous survival, criminal law cannot be used to suppress legitimate local anxieties."

On July 30, the state government invoked the NSA, ensuring his continued detention. An order from the Political (A) Department stated that his 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.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X that this was a "blatant misuse of preventive detention laws and overreach by the state." He also alleged that the NSA detention order relied on "vague and speculative allegations," including that Doley had engaged in "suspicious foreign transactions from doubtful sources."

Ramesh said the use of the NSA against Doley was part of a growing pattern of BJP governments "weaponising extraordinary laws to silence dissent," citing similar instances in Uttar Pradesh where the NSA was invoked against labour activists protesting exploitative working conditions in Noida. He added that BJP governments across the country cannot suppress legitimate grievances of working-class, indigenous, and marginalised communities through arrests and "draconian laws."

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi also criticised the move, saying it shows the state government does not allow dissent. He mentioned Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's reported threat to use the NSA against artists over a mural of singer Zubeen Garg in Guwahati.

Ramesh noted that the Supreme Court and several high courts have repeatedly cautioned that preventive detention laws must not be used as a device to defeat or circumvent judicial orders granting bail, or merely to prolong a person's incarceration.

The Assam government has not yet responded to the allegations. The development comes amid ongoing protests by indigenous residents of Golaghat against the resort project, who have also petitioned the Gauhati High Court, arguing that their land was forcibly acquired.