Assam: About 100 Eminent Personalities Condemn Attack on Rahul Gandhi, BJNY

As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi completed the eight-day Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra or BJNY in Assam on January 25 and entered Bengal, there was widespread condemnation of the Assam government’s repeated attempts to disrupt the Nyay Yatra and attack Rahul Gandhi in the state.

During the eight days that the Nyay Yatra travelled through Assam, there were reports of repeated attacks and disruptions. The government put up hurdles at several places citing law and order as the reason, said various media reports.  There was also manhandling of Congress leaders, including state president Bhupen Borah by the police.

Condemning the incidents, prominent personalities of Assam came together and signed a condemnation letter on the attack on BJNY, the government led disruption of it and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma comments on intellectuals and professors

Read the statement below:

We condemn the attack on Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and the behaviour of Assam Chief Minister

Rahul Gandhi started the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur.  Some people may support this and some other people may not. But nobody should try to stop this peaceful Yatra. But, when the Yatra entered Assam, the government of Assam tried everything to create obstructions to it. In some places, it was even attacked by some miscreants. They vandalised the vehicles of the journalists accompanying the Yatra and snatched their cameras. Congress President Bhupen Bora was physically assaulted at Sonitpur. While all this was happening, police remained silent spectators.

The Yatra started peacefully from troubled Manipur. It passed peacefully through Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh without any interruption.  But, it was only in Assam that the Yatra was repeatedly attacked. 

We condemn the attacks on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and demand of the government that those who indulged in it should be arrested and punished as per the provision of law. We also appeal to Rahul Gandhi and all the participants of the Yatra to remain peaceful and non-violent and never get exercised by such provocations.

A few days ago, the chief minister of Assam also publicly insulted Dr. Hiren Gohain, an eminent scholar and intellectual by using most objectionable language against him. He also threatened actions against Dr. Akhil Ranjan Dutta, a professor of Gauhati University for expressing his views on the matter. To us the language and behaviour of the chief minister are most shocking. Freedom of speech is crucial for a person. This is a universal right and fundamental for democracy. We are saddened by the behaviour of the Chief Minister and we strongly disapprove of it.

Dr Nagen Saikia,

Sri Kulada Kr Bhattacharjya,

Sri Harekrishna Deka,

Sri HaidarHussain,

Sri Apurba Sarma,

Sri KulenduPathak,

Dr Tapodhir Bhattacharjee,

Dr Dinesh Ch Goswami,

Sri Ajit Kumar Bhuyan,

Dr Taufiq Rahman Borbora,

Dr Apurba Kumar Barua,

Dr Manorama Sharma,

Dr Dulal Ch Goswami,

Dr Anuradha Dutta,

Dr Paramananda Mahanta,

Dr Abu Naser Sayeed Ahmad,

Dr Sandhya Goswami,

Sri Prabhat Bora,

Sri Loknath Goswami,

Sri Udayaditya Bharali,

Sri Nitya Bora,

Sri Shantikam Hazarika,

 Mr H R A Choudhury,

Mr Badal Chakrabory,

Sri Lakhminath Tamuli,

Sri Dhirendra Nath Saikia,

Sri PradipAcharjya,

Mr AbsarHazarika,

Dr Padmapani,

Sri Purneswar Nath,

Dr Kalyani Barua,

Sri Uddhab Kakati,

Dr Jiban Ch Duttabarua,

Sri Arup Borbora,

Sri Kamal Narayan Choudhury,

Sri Ajit Chandra Talukdar,

Sri Deben Tamuli,

Sri Jnan Pujari,

Sri Satanjib Das,

Sri Rajen Kalita,

Sri Jnanen Borkakati,

Sri Dwipen Kakati,

Sri Munin Bayan,

Sri Hemanta Barman,

Sri Hemanta Das,

Dr Navaneel Barua,

Sri Mrinal Kumar Barman,

Mr Ali Haidar Laskar,

Mr Waris Choudhury,

Mr Abdur Rahman Sheikh,

Dr Kaliprasad Sharma,

Dr Mohan Ch Kalita,

Dr Sonkumar Talukdar,

Dr Indranee Dutta,

Sri Rabin Dutta,

Sri Deepak Goswami

Sri Ghanashyam Nath,

Mr Abdul Mannan,

Sri Nalin Borthakur,

Dr Rashmi Goswami,

Sri Dipak Kumar Sarma,

Sri Mahesh Barman,

Sri Paresh Malakar,

Sri Paramananda Majumdar,

Sri Sankar Saikia,

Dr Tapan Kumar Sarma,

Sri Jagadish Goswami,

Sri Neelim Kumar,

Sri Santanu Borthakur,

Sri Samindra Huzuri,

Sri Bhupendra Borkotoki,

Sri Surjya Das,

Sri Kaustubhmoni Saikia,

Sri Moina Goswami,

Sri Anjan Goswami,

Sri Pankaj Nath,

Sri Dhananjay Sharma,

Mr Najibuddin Ahmed,

Sri Dilip Phukan,

Sri Pranabjyoti Deka,

Smti Suparna Lahiri Barua,

Sri Rajib Phukan,

Dr Bhabesh Bhagabati,

Dr Anil Kumar Choudhury,

Sri Niren Thakuria,

Sri Mukul Kalita,

Smti Sabita Lahkar,

Sri Kishore Kumar Kalita,

Sri Dwijendra Narayan Sarma,

Sri Ripunjay Gogoi,

Sri Prabhat Das,

Sri Chandan Chutia,

Sri Nakul Talukdar,

Sri Rudrasingha Matak,

Sri Gunin Choudhury,

Sri Niranjan Mahanta,

Sri Manoranjan Goswami,

Sri Pramod Mahanta,

Sri Nripen Kumar Barua, and

Sri Pulin Bhattacharjya