On Wednesday, Assam-based peasant rights organization Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) condemned the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) effort to allegedly establish that KMSS leaders and the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests were guided by a Maoist ideology, The Telegraph reported.

KMSS leaders Akhil Gogoi, Dhaijya Konwar, Manash Konwar and Bitu Sonowal are currently in jail. Out of them, Akhil Gogoi, Dhaikya Konwar and Bitu Sonowal have been in jail since December 16 and have been charged under the Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967. Gogoi has also been booked for charges of criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity between different groups of people. All of the leaders have faced continuous incarceration with new cases being slapped against them despite them acquiring bail.

KMSS Joint General Secretary Mukut Deka spoke about the 40-page chargesheet filed by the NIA which was not made public, saying it had “loopholes” and that the agency was somehow trying to brand KMSS members even when they had no basis.

Deka told The Telegraph, “We just have one thing to say: leading a democratic mass movement does not make one a Maoist. Reading books on Maoism does not make one a Maoist. The anti-CAA movement is a people’s movement. People are protesting because they fear about their identity and culture. NIA is saying KMSS leaders have a role in the violence during the anti-CAA protests and that it resembled like a Maoist attack. But we want to say we don’t believe in violence.”

He added that the NIA had seized books from the KMSS Chandmari office like The Communist Manifesto and Socialism: A Very Short Introduction, but that or using the words lal salaam and comrades didn’t mean that they subscribed to the Communist ideology.

KMSS leader Bhasco De Saikia held a press conference alleging that the out of the 40 pages of the chargesheet, only 19 pages mentioned the charges against Gogoi, with the rest being annexures, the News Mill reported. He also alleged that the two statements by anonymous witnesses used to prove the charge that Gogoi may have maintained links with Maoists, may have been done by coercing or bribing them. He told The News Mill, “The entire case is based on two anonymous state witnesses. There is no concrete evidence to prove any of the charges. Copies of 64 FIRs against them have been enclosed in the chargesheet in lieu of evidence.”

On May 14, the NIA had summoned journalist Manash Jyoti Baruah to question him regarding the violence during the anti-CAA protests in Assam and Gogoi’s alleged role in it, FirstPost reported. In the same manner, earlier last month, RTI activist and Swaraj Asom convener Bhaben Handique was also called by the NIA for the same reason, The Telegraph reported. Though Handique had left KMSS owing to an internal clash, he had maintained good terms with the leaders and said that he was being targeted due to his anti-CAA stand.

Both Deka and Saikia have said that the allegation of KMSS leaders having Maoist links was a disrespect to the emotions of the Assamese who have been leading the anti-CAA movement and said that if the leaders aren’t released immediately, the KMSS will start an agitation to ensure their release.

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Gogoi, other KMSS leaders taken for voice sample test
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As per the requirements of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi, and two other KMSS leaders, Bitu Sonowal and Dhaijya Konwar, submitted his voice samples to Assam’s Forensic Science Laboratory at Kahilipara on Monday, reported Telegraph India.

The voice samples were taken by the NIA to match the acquired telephonic conversations it had of the KMSS leaders allegedly plotting conspiracies against the government. While coming out of the forensic laboratory, Gogoi told reporters that he had been victimized for protesting against the government and vehemently opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

It is noteworthy that voice sampling and the use of audio evidence has been a subject of debate for decades. The Scientific American reports that concerns were raised as far back as in 1997 when the French Acoustical Society issued a public request to end the use of forensic voice science in the courtroom after the case of Jerome Prieto, a man who spent 10 months in prison because of a controversial police investigation that erroneously identified Prieto’s voice in a phone call claiming credit for a car bombing. Moreover, a survey published in June 2016 in the journal Forensic Science International by INTERPOL, the international organization that represents the police forces of 190 countries, showed that half of the respondents (21 out of 44)—belonging to police forces from all over the world—employ techniques that have long been known to have shaky scientific grounds.

Gogoi who has been in jail for 137 days now, said, “The government is only trying to keep me behind bars without any proof.” He also added that the government must bring back the stranded people of the state and compensate farmers who are having to bear the brunt of the lockdown. InsideNE reported him as saying, “We love our motherland Assam, we oppose the CAA and that’s why the government is harassing us. I request all the Assamese people to live happily and peacefully during this situation and I strongly urge the government to take all possible measures to bring the 5 – 6 lakh Assamese youth back to Assam from different parts of the country. The farmers loans should be waived off and they should be given a financial package.”

President of the Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti, Bittu Sonowal said, “We urge to the government to give total relaxation to all the agriculture loans of the farmers and the loans by microfinance which has seriously affected the rural economy at this hard time of the breaking of corona.”

Dhaijya Konwar, Joint Secretary of the KMSS said, “During the lockdown period, government should give Rs. 6,000 per month to all the poor and lower middle class families.”

The NIA had accused the KMSS leader of having connections with Maoists since 2009. Akhil was sent to judicial custody till May 13 after Gauhati High Court, in an interim order, stayed the “default” bail, which was granted by a special NIA court after the agency failed to submit a chargesheet in the case within the stipulated 90 days’ time.

NIA sources had said that their investigation had established that Gogoi had asked some KMSS leaders in 2009 to undergo training in the Odisha unit of frontal CPI (Maoist) for a month.

Regarding the ongoing investigation which is happening in a virtual set-up due to the coronavirus, Gogoi’s advocate Z Kamar said, “We have prayed for a larger bench of the high court to take up the matter as he has been kept behind bars for a long time, violating his fundamental rights.”

We The People of India, a conglomerate of organizations against CAA, has issued a press release condemning Gogoi’s continued incarceration. It says, “This pattern of re-arresting Akhil Gogoi in old cases, when the charge sheets could not be filed, is an attempt at circumventing the judicial scrutiny of executive actions.” It also asked the Supreme Court to take suo-moto cognizance in the matter. The statement condemned Gogoi’s arrest “particularly in view of the fact that the Supreme Court itself had advised the release of even convicted prisoners on bail/parole due to the Covid-19 pandemic”.

Gogoi’s health has been reported to be deteriorating during his time in prison and it has come to notice that the jail authorities haven’t provided proper treatment to him. The organization demands that Gogoi be released forthwith and all cooked up charges against him under draconian laws be dropped.

Press release condemning the continued incarceration of Akhil Gogoi.#ReleaseAkhilGogoi pic.twitter.com/Wp6I4VG5wd

— We The People of India (@ThePeopleOfIN) April 25, 2020

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Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti’s (KMSS) Dibrugarh unit joint secretary, Sashi Sensowa was arrested on Monday for alleged “violence and vandalism” during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the Upper Assam district, reported The Telegraph.

Sensowa was arrested from his house in Tingkong, after which the police produced him in court which sent to judicial custody.

Shedding light on the reasons of arrest, Dibrugarh superintendent of police Sreejith Tiraviam said, “Sensowa was arrested in connection with violence, vandalism and arson. We have scientific evidence against him and arrested him on that basis. We have enough evidence against the persons who were involved in vandalism and violence.”

Meanwhile, KMSS district secretary Hemanta Konwar said, “Sensowa was arrested for his participation in the anti-CAA movement. The government is imposing the CAA without the consent of the people. His arrest is a ploy to dislodge the anti-CAA movement. We condemn such act. We demand his immediate release because he has done nothing. We will continue our protest till the CAA is repealed.”

The Nari Mukti Sangram Samiti, the women’s wing of the KMSS held a demonstration at the jail premises and the residents of Tingkong blocked Rajgarh road demanding Sensowa’s immediate release. Condemning the arrest of KMSS leaders, Konwar also confirmed that in light of the arrest, the members of the self-help women’s groups in the area have decided to not repay the government-aided micro finance loans till Sensowa is released.

Sensowa is the third KMSS leader to be arrested after Akhil Gogoi and Biju Tamuli. Gogoi was arrested on grounds of preventive measures amid CAA protests on December 12, 2019. The Guwahati police had registered a suo moto case against him which was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), following which the NIA booked him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Tamuli was also arrested in Dibrugarh on January 2 under the same charges as Sensowa.

Assam, especially Dibrugarh, the home district of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has been witnessing massive protests against the CAA. The violence during the protests has also led to the damage of public property and the death of five people who were killed due to the police firing live ammunition on protestors.

The movement against the CAA had started in Assam, with the people of the state agitating against the government’s decision which is slated to threaten their indigenous culture, language and identity.

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As per 1955’s Citizenship Act, those who entered India with valid paperwork can pursue citizenship if they have lived in India for 11 of the last 14 years. The proposed amendment indicates that those belonging to the above mentioned communities need only to have lived in India for six years. 

On Monday, May 7, other than the groups who met with the committee to raise their objections, several thousand people from areas in the Brahmaputra valley gathered at the Assam Administrative Staff College, where the meeting was held, to protest against the Bill. Multiple placards bore the words, “Foreigners are foreigners irrespective of religion“. 

Prahlad Gogoi from Lakhimpur, on the Brahmaputra’s north bank, said, “We took so many people till 1971,” adding, “We just can’t take anymore”. 1971’s Bangladesh War was a politically contentious matter, and the All Assam Students’ Union spearheaded a movement against foreigners, which culminated in 1985’s Assam Accord. As per the accord, any individual who entered Assam following the midnight of March 24, or, following the start of the Bangladesh War, would be considered an illegal immigrant, regardless of their religion. 

Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who at the time of signing the Accord was president of the All Assam Students’ Union, and Biraj Sarma, then general secretary of the Asom Gana Parishad, met with the committee. Mahanta previously served as Assam’s Chief Minister. Their memorandum contended that the amendment is an attack on the Assam Accord, and said that if the Bill is passed in its current form “the very purpose of the Assam Accord would be gutted”. 

Atul Bora, president of the Asom Gana Parishad said the bill would harm India’s secular fabric, and make indigenous Assamese people a “linguistic minority” in their own state. Bora also noted that the Bill would effectively make Assam’s undertaking of updating its National Register of Citizenship pointless. The Congress, which also submitted a memorandum to the committee, also had a similar concern. Other organisations opposing the Bill that met with the committee include the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti farmers’ organisation (KMSS), the All Assam Minority Students’ Union, and the North East Indigenous People’s Forum. 

On Sunday, May 6, KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi questioned, “Will Assamese people become minorities in their own state? Will Assamese language be replaced with Bengali as the official language? Such fears among the indigenous people in Assam will become reality if we all do not stand strongly against the bill. The BJP and RSS are sponsoring several organisations in Assam so that they don’t oppose the bill,” adding, “According to a report by former governor S.K. Sinha, 75 lakh Bangladeshi Hindus had entered Assam between 1971 and 1989. If the bill is passed, they will become citizens of Assam. All foreigners, irrespective of religion and caste, who came to Assam after 1971 must be detected and deported,” 

The joint parliamentary committee was scheduled to travel to the Barak Valley after this, where the residents are primarily Bengali, and are anticipated to support the Bill, differing from those in the Brahmaputra Valley.

Image Courtesy Scroll.in
 

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