Jatin Das, one of the associates of martyr Bhagat Singh staged hunger strike for eighty four days behind bars of the colonial regime. It has been considered the longest hunger strike in India. The anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare demanding strong ombudsman staged hunger strike for thirteen days last summer. Now peasant leader Akhil Gogoi has been taking indefinite hunger strike protesting against the construction of big dam in lower Subanshiri. After three days of his protest he fell sick and the doctor attending to him said his blood pressure is alarmingly low. On the otherhand nobody, from the state government takes initiative to upend the peasant leader’ strike unlike Anna Hazare.
Meanwhile, Team Anna has extended support to Akhil Gogoi. At the time of Hazare’ strike, though it was literally a conspiracy to restrict the process of establishment of an effective anti-corruption mechanism, all the senior union minister including the congress spokesperson, Manish Tiwari strived to find a solution to the issue. But now Tarun Gogoi-led state government shows no interest to the cause of the peasant leader leading the deterioration of the situation of Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts of North Assam. The government though it is quite impossible, strives to handle the situation with iron hands. Already the police have arrested three anti dam protesters from Lakhimpur district. Before that the police allegedly brutally assaulted the anti-dam protesters on the mid-night of 18 May. Protesting the police atrocities, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti had called on a stir of the two districts on the following day and at last the peasant leader resolved to sit in indefinite hunger strike.
Would Akhil Gogoi’ stir gain no fruitful result for his demand like Irom Sharmila of Manipur, who has begun her hunger strike a decade back demanding the repeal of controversial Armed Forces (Special Power) Act of 1958? Though the slogan of democracy is cited in the northeast, but the fundamental rights of the people is often denied here. Akhil and Sharmila may be two examples of such denial of rights. No body could put question on their method of democratic stirs. Rather they are the vox-populi of the under-privileged section. But the democratically elected government's indifference is a matter of deep concern. Witnessing the situation some wellwishers of the peasant leader have advised to give up his fast. But he is adamant with his demand like Sharmila. According to Mahatma Gandhi mute agitation or hunger strike is a method of peaceful protest and is recognized by all democratic countries of the world.
Indeed, the peasant leader's unintermittent protest against the construction of big dam is very need of time. Considering the imminent ravages of the big dam people from all walks should join the movement. People from Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts, pointing to the river erosion and annual flood, have extended support to the peasant leader and stand with him.
People from all starta of the society trust Akhil Gogoi for his uncompromising stand against any mis-doings of the government, be it misappropriation of fund released for development or curtail down of rights of landless farmers. He was successful in revealing corruption of the PDS at Golaghat. He was also successful in Doyang Tengani movement where rights of the landless farmers were denied earlier.
Today, he is known as a strong anti-dam protestor across the country and is supported by activists like Medha Patekar, Anna Hazare. He alleged frequently that the government both central and the state attempt to thunder the anti-big dam movement only for their understanding with the corporate. He allegdd a clandestine treaty between the government and the corporate people in construction of big dam in Assam as well as northeast which according to him would ruin Assam in near future.
18 Oct 2007 - 6:03am | bonbon
It’s that time of the year once again, yes it is time for Goddess durga to come down to the mother earth for us to show regards and pay our tributes to her. The festive smell is already there...
31 Mar 2012 - 4:33am | editor
A hardcore militant of the Karbi Peoples' Liberation Tigers was killed and two others injured in an encounter with security forces in Karbi Anglong on Friday.
The encounter took place in Bokolia in...
4 May 2017 - 9:02pm | Ranjanjyoti Mahanta
Batadrava Police apprehended two bike lifters along with a stolen motorcycle on Thusday. The duo have been Identified as Azizul haque and Majibur Khaleq of Batamari village under Batadrava...
21 Feb 2013 - 1:42pm | Anup Biswas
To provide specialised medical assistance to the villagers of remote villages of Dima Hasao, a Medical Camp was organized under the aegis of Haflong based Assam Rifles Battalion at Chhota Wapu...
In a remarkable display of unity and a fervent call for tranquility, two distinguished scholars hailing from the Meitei and Kuki communities of Manipur, Dr. Yengkhom Jilangamba and Dr. Thangzakhup Tombing, convened on a shared platform in Guwahati to advocate for peace in the strife-torn state. Manipur has been gripped by a period of tumultuous unrest that has persisted for the past four months. This compelling appeal for peace emerged during a public gathering organsied by the Axom Nagarik Samaj in Guwahati, underscoring the urgent need for reconciliation and resolution in the region.
The gathering witnessed Dr. Yengkhom Jilangamba, an assistant professor at the prestigious Tata...
Dr. Dipshikha Bhagawati's new book "Literature and Film: From Mute to Motion" was launched at a ceremony held at the Rudra Barua Auditorium in Guwahati. The book was introduced by scriptwriter Akash Aditya Lama at the ongoing Chalachitram National Film Festival, which also featured the presence of notable film critic Utpal Datta and other film enthusiasts.
Dr. Bhagawati holds a Master's degree in English literature from the North-east Hill University (NEHU) and has completed a PhD on TS Eliot, a renowned 20th century English poet. In addition to being an English teacher at an Assam government higher secondary school, she is a prolific writer on literary and film topics for various...
The BJP, which formed the government in Tripura for the first time in history three years back, has now faced a humiliating defeat in an election to a Tribal Council of the state in the hands of a newly-floated regional party. What is more alarming for the saffron party is that the victorious party has been formed opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 by Prodyut Manikya Debbarma, a former Tripura Royal family’s member. He has been vehemently protesting against the CAA/CAB ever since the controversial legislation brought by the NDA regime. Supporting Debbarma, tribal populace in Tripura vehemently protested against the CAA in 2019-20. The win of the Debbarma-led TIPRA Motha in the...
Young , hard working and gun trotting cop Bhaskar Jyoti Nath is known more as writer than a cop . Especially, in the aftermath of the publication of his debut book of literary criticism Path aru Bikshyan, he has received critical attention from prominent literary luminaries of the state . As a cop he fights the dreaded militants in far flung forested himalayan foothills at Indo Bhutan border located fifty kilometre away from the district headquarters of Kokrajhar with his assault group of black cat Assam police commandos . When he gets time he pens critically acclaimed essays of literary criticism , translates the finest gem of world literature into Assamese. One would see him...
The newly floated regional party, the Raijor Dal has sent a proposal to another new regional party in Assam, the AJP, calling upon the latter to form a pre-poll alliance with it in order to oust the BJP from power. The party has even sought a merger of the both parties. Revealing these in a press conference, on Sunday the Working President of the Raijor Dal, Bhasko de Saikia said that for the sake of the greater interest of the Assamese nationalism and to oust the BJP -led alliance form power pre-alliance between the two parties has become the need of the hour. “ We want to form alliance with the Raijor Dal. Already, we have sent a written proposal to the leadership of the Raijor Dal. The...
Bajali in the lower Assam has become the 34th district of the state, after governor Jagdish Mukhi issued a notification in the regard. In the notification governor has stated the newly formed district would include all the areas of the former Bajali Sub-division of Barpeta district. The headquarters of the new district would be Madan Rauta Nagar in Pathsala, the notification says. The Government has upgraded the civil Sub-division into a district in order to expedite government developmental and administrative works.
In a setback to the people who oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 one more leader of the movement has joined the ruling BJP. Arunjyoti Moran, the outgoing president of the All Assam Moran Students' Union, on Wednessday formally joined the ruling party.
Along with him, some Congress workers also joined the BJP in a meeting organised at its office. State BJP president Ranjit Kumar Dass welcomed the new comers to the party.
Das claimed that the opposition parties are spreading misinformation about the ruling party and people could understand it on and on.
Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court has rejected the bail petition of Akhil Gogoi much to the major disappointment of the Raijor Dal which is holding its state convention in Moran on Thursday.
A division bench of the court comprising Justice Kalyan Rai Churana and Justice Ajit Barthakur rejected the petition in the morning.
Gogoi, the peasant leader (KMSS), the parent body of the Raijor Dal won’t be able to come out of the bail where he was remanded last year during the anti CAA stir.
In Assam, usually flood and erosion displace human populace. But what is happening with the people of Mikir Bamuni, a nodenscript area near the green Karbi hills is different. The tribal and adivasi people inhabited area falls under the Nagaon district. The people in the area largely depend on agriculture. In this way, they pass their days happily. But this time they are facing eviction from their own land. Fear is growing that the eviction will render them homeless and displaced.
It has been alleged that the district administration has been forcefully requisitioning the paddy fields of the people since last year's summer, destroying crops for a Delhi based green energy producer...
In the process of lifting the country’s economic state to a new high, i.e. making it a five-trillion-dollar economy in the next five years, the Narendra Modi government is now struggling to overcome many challenges occurred in the economic front itself. The current economic downturn, created by the on-going global trade war and dwindling of the domestic demand, compelled the government to roll back some proposals made in the 2019-20 general budget presented in Parliament on July 5 this year by FM Nirmala Sitharaman. Some economists, apart from the government financial and economic policy makers, had termed and hailed the budget as historic as it had increased rate of the corporate tax...
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