Assam’s jailed RTI activist and prominent farmers’ leader Akhil Gogoi on Wednesday walked free out of a jail in Goalpara district in Assam and said that he would intensify agitation against the BJP-led Government in Assam and at the Centre against the proposed move to grant citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis through the Citizenship Act.
Gogoi was arrested by the Assam Police in the month of September after he spoke at a public rally in Moran. The police accused him of instigating people to take up arms and later booked him under the National Security Act (NSA).
Gogoi, however, challenged the detention order under the NSA and last week the Gauhati High Court while hearing on Gogoi’s petition quashed the detention order.
The police, however, got him re arrested in another old case and sent him to further judicial custody. The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate of Goalpara district on Tuesday granted bail to the RTI activist and farmers’ leader, who leads the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS)—an organisation of the farmers.
“They (the Government) booked me under the National Security Act. However, there is no merit in the case. They said that I had links with Ulfa, NSCN and the Maoists. However, they failed to prove it in the court and the High Court quashed the detention order under NSA,” said Gogoi.
The activist further slammed the BJP-led Government at the Centre and the State for not following democratic values and saying that the BJP and RSS are running the Governments as dictators. “There is no democracy and it’s a dictatorship. The Government wants to grant citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis. However, we are going to oppose this tooth and nail,” said Gogoi.
“The quashing of my detention under the NSA by the High Court is an achievement for us. The credit goes to the farmers of Assam, the people of Assam and members of the KMSS. It is a big achievement for us,” he said.
He also appealed the people of Assam to cooperate publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and said that everyone must wait with patience till the final NRC is published, which is expected to help identify and deport the illegal Bangladeshis.