Assam Police have been put in a tight spot by a wave of protest art on public walls a day after it briefly detained four artists for painting a graffiti of the anti-citizenship law and peasant rights activist Akhil Gogoi, who is currently in jail.
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Gogoi has been jailed since December last year when protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) were raging. He has been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
A swathe of graffiti, posters and slogans demanding Gogoi’s release surfaced in several parts of Assam on Friday after KMSS’ student wing gave a call for protest through art on Thursday night, the Telegraph reported. The call followed Thursday’s incident where a member of the Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti (SMSS), KMSS student wing, was also detained in Guwahati along with four artists for painting Gogoi’s graffiti on a public wall without permission.
The police on Thursday made the artists, who are part of Anga Art Collective-- an art society in Guwahati, erase the graffiti from the wall after their release, the NDTV reported.
On Friday, the public art protest swept the streets with graffiti, slogans, posters painted or pasted on government or public properties without any permission in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state. The protest art, which came as a reaction to the police action, demanded “justice” for Gogoi and his release from prison.
