Defying incessant rain, the Lengrai Local Committee of CPI(ML) Liberation, Assam and the Panchayat Committee of the Sadou Asom Grameen Shramik Sanstha (SAGSS), affiliated to AIARLA, held a protest demonstration on July 17 in front of the Lengrai Gaon Panchayat office demanding the unconditional release of land rights activists Aditya Chandra Rabha, Pranab Doley, Amit Nag, Bijit Kutum, Bhaskar Saikia and Rajiv Pegu, and an immediate end to police repression.
The protesters condemned the arrests of leaders of the movement to protect the land rights of poor tribal and Adivasi communities and opposed the proposed construction of a five-star hotel and satellite township, saying poor people are being displaced to serve corporate interests.
Addressing the gathering, speakers said that the BJP government is creating communal divisions, evicting indigenous and Adivasi communities from their land, and using police repression to suppress the land rights movement. They called for united resistance against corporate land grab and warned that if the arrested leaders are not released immediately, the movement will intensify its protests.
The meeting also condemned MLA Atul Bora and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for acting in the interests of corporate forces rather than the people.
