Why Is a Madhya Pradesh–Based Party Protesting in Guwahati?

Members of the Madhya Pradesh–based Janhit Party held a protest in Guwahati early Friday, alleging that police resorted to a baton charge during the demonstration.

Around midnight, nearly a hundred men and women sat in protest in front of the Panbazar Police Station. Early Thursday morning, the protesters marched through the Fancy Bazar area carrying party flags.

The protesters alleged large-scale corruption worth ₹260 crore in the NRC process in Assam and claimed that nearly 80 lakh Bangladeshi immigrants were wrongly included in the National Register of Citizens. According to them, this poses a threat to national security.

The Janhit Party demanded the scrapping of the NRC and a thorough investigation into the alleged corruption. Party workers from Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh had come to Assam to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister and the Governor. The memorandum was submitted and protests were held on Thursday.

It is noteworthy that the protest took place in Fancy Bazar and Panbazar just two days before the Prime Minister’s scheduled visit to Assam. This has raised several questions.

Why did members of a Madhya Pradesh–based party come to Assam to protest at this particular time? Why was the issue of 80 lakh Bangladeshi immigrants raised now? How did over 150 protesters, who reportedly could not speak Assamese, carry leaflets written in correct Assamese?

These questions have added to the mystery surrounding the protest.

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