4 min readGuwahatiJul 31, 2026 07:42 PM IST
A day after a local court granted bail to land rights activist Pranab Doley, who was arrested on July 12 in connection with protests against a proposed luxury hotel project in Kaziranga, the Assam government invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against him, stating that his activities “are prejudicial to the maintenance of public order as well as security of the state”.
Doley is a prominent indigenous and land rights activist who had been arrested on July 12 by the Golaghat police in connection with a June 28 protest by activists and locals against a proposed luxury hotel project in Inglay Pathar, adjoining the Kaziranga National Park. Four other activists were also arrested in connection with this. Doley has been leading protests against the project for years, raising concerns about the potential ecological impact of the project and the displacement of indigenous villagers.
In its FIR, police alleged that Doley and “about fifty other persons” went to the site of the project “with pre-planned manner, being armed with deadly weapons like machete, sharp sticks, etc” and “trespassed” into it, “attempted to set dire” to a cement mixer there, assaulted police personnel on duty, that Doley and others “instigated the crowd” and “threatened” further agitation, among other allegations.
Bail order
In a July 29 order granting bail to Doley, an Additional Sessions Judge in Golaghat observed that there is prima facie absence of video footage demonstrating these allegations and that no “deadly weapon” has been seized by the investigating officer during the course of the investigation.
Interestingly, after ordering bail for Doley with the conditions that he cooperate with the investigation, the judge had in his order stated, “In matters where ecological preservation intersects with indigenous survival, the standard apparatus of criminal law cannot be used to suppress local anxieties. True public order is achieved not by silencing the affected, but by listening to them.”
“Therefore, while granting bail to the accused in order to ensure his personal liberty, this Court expects that the underlying grievance be addressed through structured peaceful community dialogue involving all stakeholders, rather than adversarial confrontation. It is also germane to mention here that in cases involving marginalized groups like the Tea Tribes, structural inequalities often prevent local communities from negotiating on equal terms with corporate or state entities. In such a scenario, treating the activists or community leader as ‘external disruptive element’ will not yield any fruitful result in the long run and hence, including the social activists and community leaders in the dialogue process would ensure fairness and balance in the power dynamics for a sustainable solution,” the court observed.
Preventive detention
However, while Doley was still lodged in Golaghat district jail, the state government issued an order for his preventive detention under the NSA, citing a report by the SSP of Golaghat. The order states that the government “has considered the nature, gravity, frequency and potential consequences of the activities attributed to the detenue and is satisfied that there is a real and imminent possibility of the detenue continuing to indulge in activities prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and security of the State, if he is not prevented from doing so.”
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The grounds of his detention states that there are 13 vases registered against him in Golaghat district, in which he has been accused of unlawful assembly, rioting, criminal intimidation, among other charges and that it has been reported that he has “been found to be involved in various activities starting from road blockades to damage of public properties with an intent to create lawlessness for your personal and vested interests.”
It also states that the case records show that he has “indulged in suspicious foreign transactions from doubtful sources” in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
Doley (40), the convener of the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Committee, had contested the Assembly election earlier this year from the Bokakhat constituency as an Independent, and among other things, addressed the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva in November 2025.
