Hello,
You might not know Pranab Doley. But you’d surely know Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, home to one-horned rhinos, as well as tigers and elephants. Like many protected forests, Kaziranga too is gradually being surrounded by luxury resorts and hotels. One such proposed project has now unleashed the full might of the state on indigenous villagers and the activists voiced their support.
Doley is one of them. For the last four years, the indigenous land-rights activist has become the face of local opposition to a 5-star resort project backed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Yesterday, a day after securing bail from a court, Doley was detained under the draconian National Security Act, a law that allows the government to detain a person for up to a year without trial.
All this is unfolding even as Assam reels under devastating floods. Yet the state government has escalated what began as opposition to a land deal into a crackdown on a movement resisting the project.
Our reporters, Anupam Chakravartty and Angana Chakrabarti, reviewed the NSA order, RTI responses, court records and other documents. They found a state pushing a 5-star resort by the Saraf group, which runs Hyatt-branded hotels in India, on land that villagers say belongs to them.
A sessions court had just granted Doley bail, just two days ago, observing that environmental concerns and indigenous rights cannot be treated as law and order problems. Within a day, the Assam government invoked the NSA, rendering that bail meaningless.
Read Anupam and Angana’s report here: A Day After Activist Pranab Doley Gets Bail, Assam Gov’t Detains Him Under Draconian National Security Act
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Warm regards,
Furquan Ameen
Managing Editor
The Reporters' Collective