A cell in eastern Assam’s Golaghat jail has turned into the examination centre for a 19-year-old poet put behind bars for posting an allegedly pro-ULFA (I) poem professing rebellion against India.
ULFA (I) or the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent), a banned outfit that has often carried out hit-and-run operations from its base in Myanmar.
Golaghat district authorities said an ambience was created for Barshashree Buragohain to appear for her degree second-semester examination from the jail. A student of DCB College in the neighbouring Jorhat district, she is pursuing a degree in mathematics from Dibrugarh University, to which her college is affiliated.
While officials provided her with the question paper, answer sheets and writing implements, members of an organisation called Lachit Sena had her admit card delivered through the jail authorities. An invigilator was also present.
“A few days ago, we gave her the textbooks to study. But we are not sure how much she has been able to concentrate among other inmates, some facing murder charges,” Arindam Buragohain, her brother said.
A local court had earlier allowed the teen poet to appear for the examination in the jail under tight security.
Ms Buragohain, a resident of Jorhat, was picked up from the residence of a friend at Uriamghat in Golaghat district on May 17 for posting poems that allegedly espoused treason. She was supposed to have been released the following day after counselling, during which the police made her delete all her “protest poems” from social media platforms.
She was slapped with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act instead and put in the jail.
According to the first information report, she was arrested for penning the poem titled ‘Akou Korim Rashtradroh’ (will rebel against the nation again). Special Director-General of Police (Law and Order), G.P. Singh said the poem was “a specific call to indulge in waging war against the State”.
But Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said she was kept confined in order to prevent her from joining the ULFA (I), which she had wanted to.
