Guwahati: An RSS worker, Hiteswar Chakravorty, began a 335-hour hunger strike in Guwahati on Sunday, August 16, protesting Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks about ULFA(I) chief Paresh Baruah.
Chakravorty began the protest at 11 am at Dispur, opposite the Assam Secretariat, and plans to continue it until 10 am on August 30.
The protest follows Sarma’s remarks on July 10, when he described Paresh Baruah as a “revolutionary” and called for a portrait or mural of the ULFA(I) leader to be created.
“I am very hurt by this statement from the Chief Minister,” Chakravorty said, arguing that a person who identifies with the Sangh should not make statements that, in his view, go against its core ideology.
He said ULFA’s stated demand for an independent Assam and its opposition to India’s sovereignty made Sarma’s remarks particularly concerning, given his position as a constitutional office-holder.
“Since they are a threat to sovereignty, always talking about an independent Assam or seceding from India, a Chief Minister holding a constitutional position should not have spoken this way about an organization banned by the central government,” Chakravorty said.
He appealed to Sarma to reconsider his remarks and apologise to the people of Assam.
Chakravorty also criticised opposition parties and other organisations for not raising the issue strongly enough. He said the devastating floods in Assam could have diverted attention from the matter, but urged political parties and social organisations to question the Chief Minister over his comments.
Addressing fellow RSS workers, he said they should also question the organisation’s leadership over what he described as the lack of a response to the Chief Minister’s remarks.
Chakravorty said he had also approached the Union Home Ministry, the President of India and the Governor of Assam over the issue.
According to him, the President’s office responded by asking him to submit a petition. However, he said an attempt to file the petition through the email address provided was unsuccessful.
“We have already sent our initial correspondence. That’s as far as we’ve progressed; we haven’t received any response from the Home Ministry or the Governor,” he said.
Chakravorty has objected to the remarks, citing ULFA’s history of violence and the alleged killing of RSS leaders and workers during the insurgency.
He has specifically referred to RSS leader Pramod Narayan Dixit, who was allegedly killed by ULFA militants at Barpeta Road on August 16, 1991, and RSS leader Sukleswar Medhi, who was allegedly shot dead on August 30, 2005, while travelling to his school in Nalbari.
The dates of the hunger strike were deliberately chosen to coincide with the anniversaries of the deaths of the two RSS leaders, Chakravorty said.
He has demanded that Sarma apologise for his remarks and resign if he refuses to do so. He has also called for Paresh Baruah to be arrested under the National Security Act (NSA).
The 335-hour hunger strike is scheduled to continue until August 30.