“I cannot imagine, for my life, why these charges have been held against me,” Sahitya Akademi awardee, 80-year-old Assamese litterateur Dr Hiren Gohain told The Quint.
On Thursday, 10 January, PTI reported that sedition charges have been brought against Dr Gohain, senior journalist Manjit Mahanta and KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi in Assam, as protests continue against the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
Guwahati Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar reportedly told PTI that the police suo motu registered a case at the Latasil police station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code – including 124(A) that deals with charges of sedition and 120 (B) that deals with criminal conspiracy.
Clarifying that he has not received any notice so far, even though he has heard from “very reliable sources” about the charges, Dr Gohain said, “They (government authorities) put under the rubric of sedition anything they dislike, anything they fear.”
“And they are quite afraid of the movement against the bill to amend the citizenship act,” he added.
The 80-year-old litterateur also said:
Speaking about what occurred at the meeting, Dr Gohain said:
Dr Gohain, further, asserted that their (Gogoi, Mahanata and his) fight was only for the people of India and the secular and federal qualities of the Constitution.
Dr Gohain claims his worlds have been “twisted” in order for a case to be made up against him.
Gogoi, Mahanata and Dr Gohain are part of a civil society group – 'Nagarik Samaj' – which is protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
Dr Gohain told The Quint that, in his opinion, “this bill is a new conspiracy by them (the BJP) to scuttle the NRC. If this bill is passed, NRC is meaningless.” He also added that the people of Assam “are dead against it (the bill)!” Another Sahitya Akademi awardee Nagen Saikia reportedly told Times Now that he may not agree with Dr Gohain on various issues “but what he thinks is right he says it with courage.”
Saikia also reportedly said:
(With inputs from PTI, Times Now.)
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