Citizens in Guwahati on October 23, 2026, joined the nationwide protests against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, demanding that the exercise be scrapped and Assam’s long-pending National Register of Citizens (NRC) process be completed within a stipulated timeframe. The protest, organised by the Forum for Social Harmony – Citizens’ Initiative at the Guwahati Press Club, also called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the restoration of voting rights to eligible people excluded from the NRC.
The protest meeting, held at 1 p.m. in response to the nationwide call issued by People Against SIR, brought together prominent intellectuals, citizens and representatives of political parties and organisations. Speakers, including Dr Hiren Gohain, Dr Ghanshyam Nath and Dr Rituraj Kalita, raised concerns over the implications of SIR for citizens’ constitutional rights, citing alleged violations and the growing threat to democratic participation.
The meeting demanded the immediate scrapping of SIR, the completion of Assam’s pending NRC process within a defined timeframe, and the adoption of 2014 as the base year for electoral rolls. It also called for eligible people left out of the NRC to have their names included within a specified period.
‘SIR is being used to deprive citizens of voting rights’
Addressing the gathering, Dr Hiren Gohain criticised what he described as the erosion of the Election Commission’s independence, alleging that the constitutional institution had increasingly become an instrument serving the political interests of the BJP.
“Under the pretext of SIR, the BJP is creating conditions to win elections by depriving Indian citizens, particularly Muslims and Dalits, of their voting rights. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is being used for this purpose. This is fascism in the name of democracy,” Gohain said.
He further warned that the attacks on democratic institutions extended to the Constitution itself, and demanded that Kumar either resign or be removed from office. Pointing to the growing resistance against SIR, Gohain said that young people across the country were taking to the streets despite police repression and intimidation. He described this mobilisation as a positive development and called for a similar political awakening in Assam.
“It is time for the people of Assam to wake up,” he said, urging citizens to join the wider struggle to defend democratic rights.
The meeting was attended by several other prominent individuals and representatives of political parties and organisations, including Harkumar Goswami, Debajit Choudhury, Khagen Kalita, Pankaj Kumar Das, Mukut Lochan Kalita, Jayanta Gogoi, Phanidhar Das, Munin Mahanta, Shankar Uccha Saikia, Kishor Kumar Kalita, Yechmin Ara Begum and Humayun Choudhury.
Assam cannot remain on the sidelines of the struggle over voting rights
In a statement issued after the meeting, the Forum for Social Harmony – Citizens’ Initiative said Indian democracy had reached a decisive juncture, with state power and repression confronting citizens determined to defend their constitutional and democratic rights.
The Forum noted that people across the country were mobilising to protect democracy, the Constitution and the right to vote. It argued that Assam, given its long and fraught history of disputes over citizenship and electoral rights, could not afford to remain detached from this national struggle.
“Assam, which has been turned into a testing ground for decades over questions of citizenship and voting rights, cannot remain aloof from this struggle. On the contrary, drawing upon its own historical experience, Assam must play a decisive role in this pan-Indian struggle to defend democratic rights,” the statement said.
The Forum extended its support to the nationwide protest call issued by People Against SIR and appealed for a united movement against attempts to curtail voting rights through the revision exercise. It also stressed the need for a just resolution of Assam’s unresolved citizenship and electoral issues, including the completion of the NRC process and the inclusion of eligible people who have been left out.
The demands reflect the longstanding concerns surrounding the intersection of citizenship documentation and electoral participation in Assam, where the NRC process has remained unresolved despite years of official scrutiny and public uncertainty. The Forum’s position is that electoral revision cannot become a substitute for resolving these pending questions or a means of excluding eligible citizens from democratic participation.
Police shut Guwahati Press Club gate, prevent protesters from marching out
The protest took a contentious turn after the meeting concluded. When participants attempted to leave the Guwahati Press Club premises while raising slogans, a large contingent of police personnel stationed at the entrance shut the gate, preventing them from marching out. The protesters raised slogans demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign, that SIR be scrapped, and that the pending NRC process in Assam be completed. They also challenged the police action that prevented them from leaving the Press Club premises.
Questioning the restriction on their movement, the protesters asked: “Has the Press Club premises now also been turned into a place of confinement to silence the voice of protest?”
The incident underscored the central contradiction at the heart of the gathering: citizens had assembled to defend their voting rights and democratic freedoms, only to find themselves prevented from marching out of the venue while expressing those demands.
A continuing campaign against SIR in Assam
The Forum for Social Harmony – Citizens’ Initiative has consistently opposed SIR in Assam and has raised concerns about its implications for citizenship, electoral participation and constitutional rights. Its latest mobilisation places Assam within the wider nationwide campaign challenging the revision exercise and demanding accountability from the Election Commission.
By linking the demand to scrap SIR with the completion of the NRC and the inclusion of eligible people excluded from the register, the Forum has foregrounded the specific anxieties surrounding citizenship and voting rights in Assam. Its appeal is for a collective democratic response that safeguards electoral participation rather than deepening existing uncertainty over who can exercise the right to vote.
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