An outfit that over the past 15 years has come to be known in Assam for its vigilante activities targeting “outsider” communities working and living in the state has finally run foul of the Himanta Biswa Sarma government.
The BJP government has launched a crackdown against the Veer Lachit Sena following the abduction and rescue of a businessman in Guwahati on Sunday. Of the eight people arrested in the case, five belong to the Veer Lachit Sena. Over the last two days, police have gone on to arrest multiple functionaries of the outfit, including its ‘Chief Secretary’ Rantu Paniphukan. Chief Minister Sarma has said the government might consider banning the Sena.
Formed in 2010, the outfit has grown active in the past few years, coinciding with the increasing shrillness of the ruling BJP’s attacks on “outsiders”. The Veer Lachit Sena claims to be working to “protect indigenous Assamese from injustices from outsiders” and is frequently in the news for confrontations with non-Assamese people working in the state – from Marwari businessmen to Bihari workers and Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Some of these confrontations have seen the Sena leaders court arrest. However, it is the first time the BJP government has taken it on publicly.
Accusing the Veer Lachit Sena of widespread extortion activities, Sarma said Monday: “Assam will not be held hostage by anyone acting outside the law… We might have to ban the organisation the way the ULFA is banned because it harasses businessmen… If they extort money and it impacts economic activities… we (may) have to make a big decision.” He added that he had directed police to “clamp down firmly” on the outfit.
The immediate provocation for the crackdown against the Veer Lachit Sena was the abduction of businessman Rahul Misra from Guwahati’s Borbari area on Sunday. Misra was rescued that night.
DCP Guwahati (East) Mrinal Deka identified five of those arrested for the kidnapping as members of the Veer Lachit Sena and said ransom notes had been recovered from their vehicle, signed by one of its prominent leaders, Bikash Axom.
This followed a series of recent run-ins with the law by Bikash Axom. Four weeks ago, he was taken in for questioning following unrest – including stone pelting at police vehicles – outside the residence of late singer Zubeen Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma, by a crowd demanding Sharma’s arrest.
Soon after Sarma threatened the Veer Lachit Sena with a ban and criticised its activities, its ‘Chief Secretary’ Paniphukan, along with Utpal Dutta and Tanmoy Chetia, were arrested in the middle of a press conference they were addressing in Guwahati against statements by police and the CM. In that press conference, Paniphukan claimed there were multiple photos of one of the arrested men with BJP leaders and pointed to times when the government and the outfits were aligned on issues.
Earlier this year, for example, when multiple demolition drives were being held to evict alleged encroachers from forest lands – described by the Sarma government as a move to “stem demographic invasion” of Upper Assam by Bengali-origin Muslims – the Veer Lachit Sena was among the vigilante outfits active on the ground, threatening the alleged encroachers to vacate the land.
In response to a question at the time on whether this “campaign” was taking place with his patronage, Sarma had said, “It has to happen with my patronage. I am only saying that people need to stay in (the) area they should stay in.”
Shortly before he was detained, Paniphukan referred to the same, saying: “When firm steps were being taken for the eviction of encroachers, the Veer Lachit Sena assisted the government. At that time, the CM praised the Veer Lachit Sena.”
Last year, the Veer Lachit Sena was among the organisations which targeted “non-Assamese” business-owners and residents of Sivasagar town following the assault on a teenaged girl allegedly by local Marwari businessmen. A BJP leader from Guwahati, Gaurav Somani, had even filed a complaint against Veer Lachit Sena leader Shrinkhal Chaliha, saying statements by him amounted to “spewing venom against the Marwari, Bhojpuri, Bengali and other (communities) residing in Assam.”
Somani was forced to withdraw the statement soon after, following a threat – purportedly by the ULFA (I) – against “outsiders”.
Before this, Chaliha had been in the news for his arrest in December 2019 during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the state, which is opposed by Assamese nationalist groups for easing citizenship rules for immigrants.
After the Sarma government’s crackdown against the Veer Lachit Sena, and the CM’s threat of a ban, Chaliha claimed that the outfit was facing action as it had taken a stance against “all outsiders”, including those which are “support bases” of the BJP.
“Neither Himanta Biswa Sarma nor (Congress MP) Gaurav Gogoi are our leaders, or any of the regional parties. We are only committed to the Constitution and the Assamese people… All political parties fear us because our stand is for the indigenous people. Somebody’s support is with illegal Hindu Bangladeshis, somebody’s is illegal Muslim Bangladeshis, somebody’s is Baniyas,” he said.