Gogoi to move High Court, says Centre, state government active against him
GUWAHATI: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Guwahati on Tuesday, October 22 framed charges against Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi from Sibsagar and three others in connection with a case related to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.
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The stage is now set for the trial to begin with the framing of the charges under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The other three against whom charges were filed are Dhaijya Konwar, Bittu Sonowal and Manash Konwar.
Speaking to the media, Gogoi, who is also an RTI activist, said it was very difficult to oppose the wrongdoings of the government. He said he has been accused of conspiring for the agitation against CAA and for trying to create tension between two groups.
Gogoi, however, said he has not been charged for having any link with terrorist organisation or for being anti-national. “I will not be arrested because the Supreme Court has granted me protection against that until the trial is over,” he said adding that he has to keep coming to the court.
However, he asserted that he will move the high court. “The Centre and the state government are more active against me than before,” he said.
The anti-CAA protests in 2019 had assumed serious proportions in Assam and had also led to the death of five persons in police firing.
The CAA seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have faced religious persecution in the respective countries, and who came to India before December 31, 2014.
The special NIA court on July 1, 2021 had released Gogoi and his three associates for their alleged role in the violent anti-CAA stir in the state in December 2019 and observed there was nothing to indicate that the "talk of blockade" threatened the country's economic security or was "a terrorist act." Subsequently, the NIA moved the Gauhati High Court appealing it to allow the agency to frame charges under various sections, including sedition, of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.