Guwahati: Peasant leader Akhil Gogoi, arrested under stringent UAPA during anti-CAA protests in Assam, said on Tuesday he will stage a 24-hour dharna in the jail from March 1 in protest against the contentious law.
A Special NIA Court on Tuesday extended the judicial remand of Gogoi, adviser of peasant body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), till March 7.
The organisation’s general secretary Dhairjya Konwar and Bittu Sonowal, president of KMSS students’ wing Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti (SMSS), were also remanded to judicial custody for the same period. Both were arrested for their alleged roles in violence during anti-CAA protests.
While being produced before the court on Tuesday, Gogoi told journalists that the movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is weakening because people are not united. “We must be united. We are facing problems because we are not united. From March 1, I will sit on a 24-hour dharna in the jail against CAA and for strengthening the movement,” Gogoi said.
He has been lodged in the Guwahati Central Prison. Gogoi said if BJP has to be defeated in the 2021 Assembly elections in the state, “we must create an alternative force”.
Gogoi, also an RTI activist, has been in judicial custody since December 26. He had mobilised public protests against the CAA across several districts in Upper Assam before his arrest on December 12. His colleagues were taken into custody the next day. Assam Police had registered an FIR against Gogoi under sections of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on December 13 and the case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) the next day.
Konwar and Sonowal’s cases were also handed over to the agency. Various organisations, including the Congress, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) have been demanding the immediate release of Gogoi. (PTI)
