Guwahati: Police shut the entrance gate of the Guwahati Press Club on Thursday (October 23), preventing protesters from leaving the premises as they raised slogans demanding the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and completion of Assam’s pending National Register of Citizens (NRC) process.
The incident occurred after a protest meeting organised by the civil society group Forum for Social Harmony–Nagarik Udyog in response to a nationwide call by ‘People Against SIR’ to demand the withdrawal of the electoral roll revision exercise.
According to the Forum, a large contingent of police personnel was deployed at the Press Club gate when participants attempted to leave the premises while chanting slogans such as “Gyanesh Kumar must resign”, “Scrap SIR” and “Complete NRC process”.
The protesters questioned the police action, asking whether the Press Club premises had been cordoned off to suppress dissent.
The protest meeting, held at 1.00 pm, brought together civil society members and representatives of various political and social organisations who expressed concerns over the alleged impact of the SIR process on citizens’ constitutional rights and voting rights.
Prominent intellectual Hiren Gohain, educatinists Ghanashyam Nath and Rituraj Kalita, addressed the gathering. The participants demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the Election Commission’s independence had been undermined and that the SIR exercise could result in eligible voters being excluded from electoral rolls.
Speaking at the meeting, Hiren Gohain alleged that the Election Commission had lost its independence and had become an instrument for the ruling BJP to retain power. He accused the party of using the SIR process to disenfranchise citizens, particularly Muslims and Dalits, and called for Kumar’s resignation or removal.
Gohain also urged people in Assam to join the broader movement to defend democratic rights, citing public resistance to alleged electoral irregularities and restrictions on dissent in different parts of the country.
Forum demands completion of NRC process
The meeting called for the scrapping of the SIR exercise and the time-bound completion of Assam’s pending NRC process.
In a statement issued after the meeting, the Forum described the country’s democracy as being at a critical juncture, with citizens taking to the streets to defend the Constitution, democratic institutions and voting rights.
The organisation said Assam could not remain detached from the nationwide movement, given the state’s long-standing experience with citizenship-related issues. It called for a united struggle against what it described as attempts to curtail voting rights through the SIR process and sought a just resolution to citizenship and electoral rights issues in the state.