Something unusual, if not outright illegal, has happened in Assam. The state government invoked the National Security Act (NSA, 1980) against indigenous land rights activist Pranab Doley just hours after a local court granted him bail. Doley was arrested on 13 July 2026 following his detention from a locality in Guwahati, in connection with a case registered at Bokakhat police station (Case No. 108/2026). The young activist was granted bail by the Golaghat district court. Four other jailed activists — Amit Nag, Brijit Kutum, Bhaskar Saikia and Rajib Pegu — were also granted bail on 29 July. Surprisingly, however, the government then invoked preventive detention against Doley, keeping him behind bars without trial for several more months.
Doley faces multiple charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including criminal conspiracy, intimidation, unlawful assembly, rioting, criminal trespass, and obstruction of public servants. He has been leading protests against a luxury tourism project near Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve. Authorities recently allotted about 30 bighas of land for the project at Inglay/Inle Pathar in the Hatikhuli area, near the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The transfer of this land to the Assam Tourism Development Corporation triggered widespread protests. Doley, convener of the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee, alleged that more than 60 bighas of agricultural and community grazing land had been reclassified without proper public consultation. Arguing that the project would harm the environment and the traditional rights of indigenous families who have cultivated the land for generations, he organised a demonstration on 29 June at the site — which led to a police complaint against him at Bokakhat in Golaghat district.
Doley's arrest sparked global outrage, and the reaction intensified after his NSA detention. The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) strongly condemned the move, calling the use of preventive detention laws against a democratic activist defending indigenous rights a dangerous escalation of the state's assault on dissent. Earlier, a coalition of 60 Indian civil society groups, trade unions, and concerned citizens had condemned his prolonged detention and called for an end to the criminalisation of communities defending their land, livelihoods, and environment. Several Left parties held joint demonstrations across Assam demanding his unconditional release, and the opposition Congress party also joined the protests. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticised the Assam government for what he called a misuse of preventive detention laws, invoking vague and questionable grounds such as unspecified "foreign transactions."
Indigenous communities around Kaziranga have long opposed the transfer of their lands for commercial and tourism projects. Critics argue that the proposed luxury hotel in Hatikuli, near the Kohora range of the Kaziranga forest reserve and reportedly situated on an elephant corridor, risks becoming a destructive model of development — especially at a time when India and the world face growing environmental and climate risks. They stress that when Adivasi and indigenous communities assert their rights to protect land, environment, and natural resources, they should not be treated as enemies of the nation.
The Save Kaziranga campaign has called on authorities to review Doley's detention under the NSA with due process and judicial oversight. It notes that Kaziranga is not merely a tourist destination but a globally recognised habitat for rare species, with a fragile ecosystem and communities that have lived alongside the reserve for generations. Yet Kaziranga has increasingly faced pressure from large-scale tourism and infrastructure projects, and the proposed Hatikuli hotel raises serious concerns for both indigenous land rights and the park's ecologically sensitive zone.
A high-end hospitality project near Kaziranga might well generate employment and business opportunities for local people. But when a large section of the community opposes such a project over concerns about land, livelihood, and the environment, the authorities should take those objections seriously. A peaceful protest by aggrieved citizens should never be met with a vindictive response from the state.
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*Senior journalist based in Guwahati
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