Pradip Dutta Roy summoned again at SP Office; No Bengali organisation steps up in support

It is 3:00 pm. The office of Superintendent of Police is deserted. Only a few journalists are waiting in the premises as the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Headquarters interrogate Pradip Dutta Roy, chief convener of Barak Democratic Front (BDF).

He was escorted inside the cabin of DSP Headquarters at around 10:00 am and there is no clarity, by when he will be allowed to go home. He was summoned yesterday too. SP Cachar, Ramandeep Kaur had informed that he was summoned for interrogation in connection with the Meherpur Poster.

For the freshers, a giant hoarding carrying a Government of India advertisement was placed at a billboard in Goswami Filling Station, Meherpur. The advertisement promoting free vaccination was printed in Assamese and Pradip Dutta Roy launched a protest against it. He issued a press statement with an ultimatum that if the poster is not replaced with a Bengali one within 48 hours, then BDF will get to action. His demand was that the administration must respect the Assam Language Amendment Act. 1961 and use Bengali as the official language of Barak Valley without any prejudice. The poster was removed by the Petrol Pump authority keeping the security concerns in mind.

After the poster was removed, television channels headquartered in Guwahati started criticising Pradip Dutta Roy unabashedly. Soon after that, he was summoned yesterday and again today. When asked on what basis he was being summoned, SP Cachar, Ramandeep Kaur said, “Since this new poster row is similar to the last one, he was summoned as a part of the ongoing investigation.” She made it clear that there was no fresh complaint against him with respect to the poster in Meherpur.

While without any complaint, Pradip Dutta Roy is summoned, what is astonishing is that no Bengali organisation or activists have stepped up to support Pradip Dutta Roy and condemn the repeated summoning.

Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya o Sanskriti Sammelan, (Barak Banga) which has Cachar District President -Taimur Raja Choudhury, General Secretary – Jayanta Deb Roy and other members, is yet to make a statement on demonstrate in support of Dutta Roy. In fact, Barak Banga has three committees – Local, District and Central. Gautam Prasad Dutta is the General Secretary of the Central Committee. When our correspondent reached out to him, he said he is busy in a meeting.

Barak Banga is not the only organisation that claim to working for the Bengali culture, tradition and language. Barak Upatyaka Matri Bhasa Surokkha Somiti presided by Mihir Lal Roy, Sammilita Sanskritik Mancha which has Shekar Deb Roy a renowned playwright as president, Amra Bangali presided by Sadhan Purkayastha and all other such organisations and individuals, who fill the editorial pages and dress up on May 19 to pay tribute to the eleven martyrs of 1961, are all busy in their respective work abandoning Pradip Dutta Roy at the SP Office.

What does this mean? Are they okay with government ignoring the Assam Language Amendment Act. of 1961 and Assamese-only posters? Is it not in their agenda to ensure that Bengali is maintained as the official language in Barak Valley? Or is it that they do not trust Pradip Dutta Roy and therefore, they have separated themselves.

SP Office is a junction for several protests and demonstrations. Every now and then there is a call for justice outside the gate of the SP office. But today, when a man is being summoned for urging the administration to follow an act democratically passed by the government, he is deserted, alone and abandoned.