Lachit Bordoloi

Lachit Bordoloi is a journalist and adviser of Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS), an organisation working to defend human rights in the Assam region. With other representatives of civil society he was invited to join the People’s Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam (PCPIA) and is a member of the People’s Consultative Group (PCG), an organisation set up to initiate peace discussions between the Indian Government and the United Liberation Front of Assam.

Further Information

Lachit was arrested following a high level meeting with Indian officials to discuss the terms for an agreement between the Government and the armed opposition group ULFA. He was accused among other things of raising funds for the armed opposition group and of plotting to highjack a plane. A month after his arrest the Indian authorities were forced to concede that there was absolutely no evidence of planning a highjack. In a pattern of ongoing harassment the authorities have lodged multiples cases against him. His case is typical except that his public profile has protected him from torture. All the other people arrested with him were tortured. He has four cases still pending which Front Line believes are motivated by his human rights work.