GUWAHATI: Ten prominent personalities of Assam, including Sahitya Akademi awardees Hiren Gohain and Homen Borgohain and eminent filmmaker Jahnu Barua, have written to Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde urging him to deliberate on the prevailing “public outrage and anger in the country”.
The letter, made available to the media on Monday, stated that the government has characterised the ongoing protests across the country as being organised by “mischievous elements” whereas the “reaction of thousands of people has earned the sympathy of all right thinking sections of the society”.
“It is quite possible that there may have been certain excesses, as mentioned in some press reports, and these are to be deplored but the public discontent and unrest can hardly be dismissed as wilful violence, as is being currently done by the government,” the letter said.
Signatories to the letter include Sahitya Akademi awardee Nagen Saikia, scientist Dinesh Chandra Goswami, former Gauhati University vice chancellor Gajendra Nath Talukdar and ex-principals of Cotton College and Gauhati Medical College, Udayaditya Bharali and NN Barman respectively.
“The younger generation, as admitted by all impartial observers, is particularly aggrieved and agitated by certain issues that have cast a dark shadow on their lives.”
“In Assam, the threat of unchecked migration from neighbouring countries like Bangladesh had been compared by the Supreme Court to a silent invasion and the NRC for Assam was expeditiously prepared under the monitoring of the highest Court,” the letter stated.
The letter said that at this juncture, granting citizenship to a large number of foreigners will put immense pressure on scant resources of the state and its native population.
The signatories hoped that the apex court will pay attention to this issue in the interest of justice and healthy democracy as “people habitually look up to the Supreme Court to maintain our democracy with alacrity and vigour”. (PTI)
