Assam is on the threshold of a massive agitation for exercising the rightsover its own resources if somebody goes by the howls of startewide protest against the move to auction marginal oil fields.
Many political parties and organizations are up in arms against the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre alleging a set of policies which is believed to have hurt the sentiment of the people who are proud of the state’s oil and tea.
These agitating parties and organizations have not spared three month old BJP-led coalition government as they pledged massive agitation to stop the move. The massive agitation started erupting assoonas the Centre cleared the decks for auctioning a dozen of oil fields to the outside parties for operation calling it a non profitable exercise.
“We won’t allow it to happen. We will try to resist. Let’s see how the Centre auction these oil fields,” uttered RTI activist Akhil Gogoi who was thrashed along with his fans and supporters when he was staging a demo beside a roadshow in Guwahati in presence of petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan as he was holding talks with the interested bidders a couple of days back.
The uncompromising United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-I) vowed to protest the auction move. In a statement, the armed outfit said that they won’t remain idle if the people in power keep exploiting the state resources.
Same voice of discord was evident when student organizations like All Assam Students Union and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad pledged to resist the move. AASU, the influential student organization threaten to launch a massive agitation if the Centre refuses to halt the move. In a recent statement, it strongly opposed the move and advocated state ownership of its natural resources to serve the interest of the state.
The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad has given the NDA government at the Centre an ultimatum till July 8 to stop the deal. In a recent press conference in Sivasagar in the upper portion of the oil rich Assam said that the Centre’s anti-Assam policy has forced them to take resort to oil field, road and rail blockade from Monday.
“We are dead opposed to the move and have served an ultimatum to the Modi government at the Centre till July 8. We are ready to face any eventuality,” said Biswajeet Tipomia, an AJYCPleader in Sivasagar district where they are blocking the oilfields, rails and roads from Monday.
The picture is not different in the political circle. The Asom Gana Parishad, the main coalition partner of the newly elected NDA government in Dispur has vehemently opposed the move. “This is bound the hurt the sentiment of the people of Assam. I want to urge the Centre to reconsider the decision,” said AGP leader and former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.
Outgoing Assam Chief Minister and octogenarian CongressleaderTarun Gogoi also opposed the Centre move and vowed to back any democratic form of protest to resist the auctioning of Assam oil fields. Addressing a crowded press conference the three time chief minister castigated the governments at the centre and state alleging it an attempt to handover the state resources to the outsiders.
Gogoi said, “f these marginal oil fields are not economically viable what forces the private parties to come forward? Why the public sector units are not considered? We would oppose it tooth and nail.”
A local organization has already called for 12-hour statewide Assam bandh last week which met partial response.
But the Government side is not likely to halt the process. Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan who keeps visiting the oil rich state was firm on the government stand saying that it would fetch Rs 17,000 crore. He further said that it would give Assam the full rightsover its own resources albeit he could not explain it.
Chief Minister Sonowal smartly said,” the entire process is allowed only for the interest of Assam and its people.” Beyond that he could not go further to convince the people whom he heads.
The Centre has not shown any sign to reconsider suggesting a full scale agitation in the state where the government would take up it “a law and order situation”.
When Zubeen Garg stepped onto a stage, whether in a packed Guwahati stadium or before a modest rural crowd, something remarkable happened: the air thickened with anticipation, and the moment he sang, generations sang with him. On September 19, 2025, that voice — at once fiery, tender, and uncontainable — was silenced forever in Singapore under tragic circumstances. He was 53.
For Assam and the Northeast, Zubeen was not simply a musician; he was a living cultural movement, a heartbeat that synchronized with millions. A singer, composer, lyricist, actor, and filmmaker, his career spanned over three decades and encompassed songs in more than 40 languages and dialects. His music shaped...
In a chilling reminder of the dangers faced by the press, Hornbill TV reporter Dip (Deep) Saikia was shot in Manipur’s Senapati district on Saturday evening, just a week after being publicly threatened by Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton. The brazen attack has sent shockwaves across the Northeast, raising urgent questions about political intimidation and the safety of journalists.
Saikia, a young reporter from Assam’s Jorhat district, had travelled to Laii village to cover the Zinnia Flower Festival when he was targeted. Witnesses say an assailant opened fire, striking him in the leg and underarm. Villagers quickly subdued the attacker, who was reportedly carrying an air...
When Shri PVSLN Murty, Chairman and Managing Director of the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi), speaks about entrepreneurship in the Northeast, it does not sound like the language of a banker. It sounds more like the voice of someone who has walked the muddy lanes of remote villages, spoken with women artisans at their looms, and listened to farmers struggling to sell their produce.
In his recent television interview, Murty painted a picture of a Northeast alive with ideas, but constrained by access. His reflections move beyond institutional reports and into a larger vision: finance not merely as credit, but as liberation, dignity, and futures being rewritten...
This week, I’ve been swept away by three songs from very different worlds—but each one touched something deep inside me. They tell stories of life, struggle, hope, and joy in their own unique ways. And I want to share how these songs became a part of my own story.
Rose in My Garden — Lou Majaw’s New Video, A Dream Finally Realized
The highlight of my week—and honestly, a moment I’ve been waiting for—is the official music video release of Rose in My Garden by Lou Majaw, my all-time favourite musician and a true living legend of Northeast India’s rock scene.
Written back in 1993 on a lazy summer afternoon in Shillong, this song has been a quiet companion in my life for years. But...
A massive protest was held in the Boroduar Bagan region of the Goalpara district, where Indigenous communities came together to assert their rights over land they have long inhabited. With banners stating "The land belongs to those who occupy it—first give us the land, then give it to the traders," local men and women from various tribal communities rallied to protect their ancestral land from external forces trying to seize it.
Since early morning, Indigenous people from far-flung villages have gathered to resist the threat of losing the land they have occupied for decades. Amid growing fears of displacement, many workers, shopkeepers, and farmers have left their fields to join the...
Assam, one of India’s seven biodiversity rich northeastern states, presents a landscape of lush evergreen forests and grasslands that is home to a great diversity of species including many of the rare cat species. Of the magnificent felines--while the tiger enjoys the lion share of all conservation efforts--the leopard however, continues to remain neglected. A Scheduled I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the survival of the leopard (Panthera pardus) in Assam is under threat due to an expanding human population and accompanying development and habitat fragmentation.
“...
Anjali is my friend. She lived in Guwahati for nearly three years. I didn't know she was researching this book!
I love to read books. Recently, I read her book, "Keeping in Touch." It's a love story set in today's world. The story is about Keteki, a designer, and Ved, a businessperson. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop.
The story begins with Keteki and Ved meeting at an airport. Ved is going to Assam to see a special lightbulb factory. Keteki is coming back home to Guwahati after an art show in London. Their chance meeting leads to a love story that goes beyond borders and takes them on adventures in Assam and other places.
What I liked about "Keeping in Touch" is how Anjali...
During the Covid-19, a few brave Assamese boys and girls sailed offshore in search of their destiny, braving heavy odds like the lack of flights, lack of appointments for visas and uncertainty in foreign land. In the most unprecedented times in the history of mankind, now when the world goes through spells of complete lockdown, the youth were clueless about how to deal with this situation. Nevertheless, some brave-hearts embraced challenges with the right spirit and converted them to opportunities.
Dewang Rajkakati is one of them. He left India during the height of the Corona Pandemic in December 2020 after completing B Tech from SRM University. He studied MS from the State...
KOKRAJHAR: An encounter incident took place in the Ultapani forest area along the Indo-Bhutan border area of Kokrajhar district on Thursday night that reportedly killed a person who was allegedly involved with extremist activities recently in Chirang district.
The deceased was identified as Sanjula Wary, 26, of the Sapkata area of the Gossaigaon subdivision.
Police arrested Sanjula Wary(26) of Kashiabari Dulagaon under Gossaigaon police station on Thursday. as per police, he was earlier a member of the NLFB Udalguri camp and had formed an extremist gang of about 10-15 members who were personally involved in the recent dacoity and firing incident at Bithani village under Amteka in...
Guwahati: An orgy of "encounters" triggered no less uproar in the state assembly on Monday, where the government denied any such case of an encounter by police. According to the government, there is nothing new in a few incidents of deaths of criminals in police firing in the state.
Opposition legislators alleged a mysterious rise in the number of deaths in police firings since the new government was installed in Dispur.
Senior minister Piyush Hazarika tried to pacify the legislators by saying that there is no such word as "encounter" in the Assam police manual. He said that police can’t remain idle if a criminal tries to flee from custody.
“It was during the erstwhile...
Add new comment