arupjyoti saikia

NIA Now Questions Cotton University Student Leader Pranjal Kalita

Kalita was questioned in the same case for which IIT Guwahati teacher Arupjyoti Saikia has been summoned repeatedly.

Guwahati: After IIT Guwahati faculty member and noted history scholar Arupjyoti Saikia was called by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for questioning multiple times over his alleged involvement in anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, the agency on Thursday called in former Cotton University students’ union general secretary Pranjal Kalita.

Kalita is the assistant general secretary of Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti (SMSS), the student wing of the peasant body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), which was helmed by Akhil Gogoi.

Gogoi himself is behind bars for 2009 Maoist links case. The NIA took him in custody after his active involvement in anti-CAA protests.

Kalita was the general secretary of Cotton University students’ union during 2018-19. Kalita had received the summons from NIA on Wednesday to appear on Thursday.

Also read: After Questioning IIT Guwahati Teacher for 3 Days, NIA Summons Him Again on Feb 7

He was called under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as a witness and in connection with the anti-CAA protests that rocked Guwahati in December. His legal counsel Santanu Borthakur said, “It cannot be said what he was questioned on. NIA hasn’t said anything and we don’t know when he will be called again. Once a case has been registered the investigation body has the power to summon people.”

Kalita was questioned for a few hours. Speaking to the media he said, “I was called over the same case involving Akhil Gogoi. The NIA, as of now, is not able to provide any evidence related to the case and people of Assam are a witness to that. They want us, the students’ community, as sacrificial bait. But won’t fall or be afraid. The revolution will continue and I request the people of Assam to not give up and take the agitation forward. I am not sure if I will be called again as the NIA hasn’t said anything about it.”

Besides Akhil Gogoi, other KMSS leaders like Dharjya Konwar, Bitu Sonowal and Mahesh Konwar have all been arrested by the NIA. Gogoi has been under arrest since December.

After Questioning IIT Guwahati Teacher for 3 Days, NIA Summons Him Again on Feb 7

Arupjyoti Saikia’s counsel told The Wire that the move reeked of intimidation.

Guwahati: IIT Guwahati faculty member Arupjyoti Saikia has been called for another round of questioning by the National Investigation Agency on February 7.

Saikia was questioned on Tuesday, February 4, for about five hours. This was the third time since Saturday that he was summoned by the investigation body for his alleged links with peasant group Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and Maoist groups.

Saikia’s legal counsel Santanu Borthakur told The Wire that he was summoned at the NIA office at Sonapur in the outskirts of the city at around 11:30 am and was let go in the evening.

Borthakur said that no specific details could be shared so as to what exactly transpired between Saikia and NIA during the questioning. He however added that the continued questioning of the noted scholar was uncalled for and unheard of as he was being called as a witness and not as an ‘accused.’

Also read: NIA Questions IIT Guwahati Professor Involved in Anti-CAA Protests

Borthakur also said that it looked like a form of intimidation.

Saikia was summoned by the NIA under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code Police (CrPc). This section has the power to summon a witness or require his or her attendance. The case related to Saikia pertains to his alleged involvement in the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019) protests that rocked Guwahati and other parts of Assam in December.

“It is difficult to say why the NIA is acting like this. Generally, they behave this way only when there is intimidation,” said Borthakur.

State finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma some days ago in a press conference said that the state had information on instruction given to burn down the state legislative assembly or the Janata Bhawan in Dispur. “The instruction was given by a leading academic of Assam. I won’t give out the name but if one studies or reads the police case or case records against peasant leader Akhil Gogoi it reeks of the involvement of a leading academic but not known intellectual who works with a central government organisation or an academic institute,” Sarma had said.

NIA Questions IIT Guwahati Professor Involved in Anti-CAA Protests

Saikia was reportedly asked about his telephone calls to KMSS activists during the protests.

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency, according to a Hindu report, questioned IIT Guwahati teacher Arupjyoti Saikia for over four hours.

It is being suspected that he was summoned due to his involvement in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, said reports.

Saikia teaches history at IIT Guwahati and was questioned at an NIA office on the outskirts of Guwahati.

The NIA has taken a dim view of the statewide demonstrations against the CAA in Assam. In the middle of the protests, it arrested farmers’ leader Akhil Gogoi and three other leaders of his organisation, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti. The case for which Gogoi was held dates back to 2019.

Saikia was reportedly asked about his telephone calls to KMSS activists during the protests, reported Northeast Now.

Saikia is a renowned scholar and the author of The Unquiet River: A Biography of the Brahmaputra. He has written four other books on the particular cultural and agrarian history of the region.

In December, state finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had claimed that his government had evidence that a major academic had played an important role in the protests against the citizenship law, reported the portal.

Sarma had said the academic was involved in a conspiracy to orchestrate the burning of Assam Secretariat at the Dispur capital complex.

IIT Guwahati’s electrical and electronics engineering professor Brijesh Kumar Rai was recently in the news after the institute’s board of governors ordered him on January 1 to vacate his residential quarters by the end of the month, and leave on ‘compulsory retirement’ on grounds of alleged misconduct. Rai had alleged corruption and nepotism at the institute. A senior official had also lodged an FIR against him for alleged intimidation.

Scholars release statement in protest

Eminent scholars of India’s top universities have released a statement in support of Saikia, and condemning his harassment in the hands of the NIA.

“That a scholar of such standing, and a human being of such decency, has been called for intensive grilling by the National Investigative Agency is deeply distressing. We urge that the NIA treat him with the dignity and respect he deserves, and allow him to continue his professional work unimpeded,” the professors write.

Among signatories are Ramachandra Guha, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Sukanta Chaudhuri, Supriya Chaudhuri, Nandini Sundar, Partha Chatterjee, Niraja Gopal Jayal and many others.

Statement on Arupjyoti Saikia by The Wire on Scribd