Protests for Release of Balindra Saikia
CPIML and All India Kisan Mahasabha observed 14 August 2020 as a day of protest across the country for the release of CPIML CC member and AIKMS National Secretary Assam youth leader Balindra Saikia and against the witch hunt of AIKMS National Secretary and Viplavi Kisan Sandesh Editor Purushottam Sharma whom the Delhi Police detained at the Thana for 8 hours and interrogated with the intent of falsely implicating him in the Delhi riots.
It should be noted that Balindra Saikia was arrested from his home in Dibrugarh District 5 days ago and sent to judicial custody. Prominent anti-CAA leader in Assam and kisan leader Balindra Saikia has been leading a series of agitations for compensation for farmers who have lost their lands to a road construction project. Before the arrest, a mob led by BJP-supported goons surrounded his house in the morning and challenged him to come out of the house. This continued till local Party supporters reached the spot. A complaint was filed in the Thana but instead of arresting the anti-social elements, the police arrested Balindra Saikia.
A few days earlier, another CPIML CC member from Assam Comrade Bibek Das was witch-hunted merely for a Facebook post on the condition of tea garden workers and poor in Vishwanath District.
The targeting of activists like Akhil Gogoi, Bittu Sonowal, and CPIML leaders Bibek Das and Balindra Saikia is clearly a part of the BJP government’s countrywide cycle of repression to crush voices raised in favor of the Constitution and rights of the working class.
On this countrywide protest day, CPIML and AIKMS demand that the repression against well-loved kisan leaders like Akhil Gogoi and Balindra Saikia should be stopped. Comrade Balindra Saikia should be released immediately and unconditionally and his attackers should be arrested.
Similarly, CPIML and AIKMS have condemned the conspiracy to implicate AIKMS National Secretary and Viplavi Kisan Sandesh Editor Purushottam Sharma in the case relating to the Delhi riots. Under the excuse of investigation, the Delhi police Special Cell made Comrade Sharma sit at their Lodi Colony office for 8 hours.
This action by the Delhi Police is a ploy to protect the real instigators of the Delhi riots Kapil Mishra, Pravesh Verma and Anurag Thakur, and a conspiracy to falsely implicate anti-CAA activists and those who raise their voices for democracy and the rights of workers and farmers. CPIML and AIKMS demand that the Delhi Police register a case against the BJP leaders who incited the Delhi riots and stop the conspiracy of targeting and falsely implicating those who support the anti-CAA movement and other democratic movements.
CPIML and AIKMS leaders and activists organized protests for the release of Balindra Saikia and against the targeting of Purushottam Sharma and other pro-people voices. The protests were held in Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Tripura, Karnataka, Pondichery, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab and other States.
All the Uttar Pradesh Party units protested on 14 August against the arrest of Balindra Saikia and the illegal detention and harassment of Purushottam Sharma.
Bihar: Responding to the call given by CPIML and All India Kisan Mahasabha, protests were held across Bihar against the arrest of CPIML Central Committee member, AIKMS National Secretary and Assam peasants’ leader Balindra Saikia.
CPIML Politburo member and AIKMS National General Secretary former MLA Rajaram Singh participated in the protests at Patna. He pointed out that earlier, before Balindra Saikia’s arrest, AIKMS national Secretary Purushottam Sharma was also baselessly interrogated and harassed by the Delhi police with regard to the Delhi riots. The real criminals behind the Delhi riots are being shielded while activists are being witch-hunted.
Rajaram Singh said that Balindra Saikia, a prominent anti-CAA activist in Assam, was these days leading a struggle for compensation for farmers who had lost their lands to a road construction project. His arrest in this connection is astounding. Before the arrest, a mob led by BJP-supported goons surrounded his house in the morning and challenged him to come out of the house. This continued till local Party supporters reached the spot. A complaint was filed in the Thana but instead of arresting the anti-social elements, the police arrested Balindra Saikia!
The targeting of activists like Akhil Gogoi, Bittu Sonowal, and CPIML leaders Bibek Das and Balindra Saikia is clearly a part of the BJP government’s countrywide cycle of repression to crush voices raised in favor of the Constitution and rights of the working class.
Our demand from the Assam government is that the repression against well-loved kisan leaders like Akhil Gogoi and Balindra Saikia should be stopped. Comrade Balindra Saikia should be released immediately and unconditionally and his attackers should be arrested.
Under the national protest day called by the Kisan Mahasabha, protests were held from their homes in Patna by KD Yadav and Umesh Singh; in Ara by MLA Sudama Prasad and Shobha Mandal; in Jehanabad by State Secretary Ramadhar Singh, in Patna City by Kisan Mahasabha Bihar Vice President and Jalla Kisan Sangharsh Samiti Secretary Shambhu Mehta. Comrade Atma Ram, Chandra Bhushan and other leaders held a dharna in Gulzar Bagh.
Protests were also held at Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Siwan, samastipur, Nalanda, Nawada and Arwal Districts. Kisan leader Jitendra yadav led the protests at Gayaghat in Muzaffarpur. Strong Block level protests were organized in Patna District at Maner, Bihata, Punpun and Badh.
