The Assam government on Thursday invoked the National Security Act against activist Pranab Doley, a day after he was granted bail by a sessions court in Golaghat.

Golaghat District Commissioner Biswajit Phukan told Scroll that the National Security Act has been invoked against Doley based on a report prepared by the police. The invocation of the Act means that the activist will not be released despite the bail order, and will remain in detention.

The Assam government said in a communication to Doley that 13 cases have been filed against him, in which he has been accused of inciting hatred against the state, instigating violence between communities and obstructing officials from carrying out their duties, among other charges.

The government also alleged that Doley had carried out “suspicious foreign transactions from doubtful sources” in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

Doley was among two activists arrested on July 12, days after he took part in a protest against a hotel project at Ingle Pathar, a village adjoining the Kaziranga National Park. The police alleged that during the protest, he “unlawfully trespassed into the site of the Tea Tribes Museum and thereafter trespassed into the nearby ATDC [Assam Tourism Development Corporation] Hyatt project at Ingle Pathar with deadly weapons”.

Additional Sessions Judge NM Abdullah Ahmed said in his bail order on July 29 that the investigating officer had already recorded the statements of key witnesses, and that there was no possibility for the accused person to conceal or tamper with evidence. The judge granted Doley bail on a surety of Rs 20,000.

The judge said that on a preliminary reading, the dispute originated “from a deep-rooted anxiety regarding environmental degradation” and its impact on the socio-cultural fabric of the local tea tribes.

“In matters where ecological preservation intersects with indigenous survival, the standard apparatus of criminal law cannot be used to suppress local anxieties. True public order is achieved not by silencing the affected, but by listening to them,” the court said.

The judge said he hoped that the underlying grievance behind the protest would be addressed “through structured, peaceful community dialogue involving all stakeholders, rather than adversarial confrontation”.

Inputs by Rokibuz Zaman. Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.

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