The Rice Saplings, Gungun Chetia, and the State’s Gameplan

In India’s governance system, violence often acts as a lubricant — smoothing the machinery of the state when it faces friction. In official parlance, “law and order” situations — with all their chaos — have historically been exploited to reassert state power.

One doesn’t need to dig deep to find examples. On 30 March 2010, in Assam’s Dhemaji district, Akhil Gogoi-led KMSS organized a rally against dam construction in Arunachal Pradesh and marched to the Deputy Commissioner’s office to submit a memorandum. Everything remained peaceful until the DC, without citing any reason, arrogantly refused to step out of his chamber to receive the memorandum personally. Demand and arrogance cannot coexist for long. Protesters, defying Section 144 IPC, forced their way into the office premises. The administration retaliated with lathicharge and firing — leaving many injured.

Importantly, the core issue — large dams threatening Assam’s ecology — remained unresolved, buried under the din of the violence.

This same script seems to be unfolding again. The eviction drive carried out on plots of rice saplings — symbolic in Assamese society — and the ensuing political buzz created by Gungun Chetia and her opposition, mainly the BJP, reflect a familiar pattern.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma appears satisfied: the narrative is playing out just as he wants. The controversies surrounding the financial irregularities of a minister close to him have conveniently slipped to second place on the agenda. The method — loud, unnecessary, and disproportionate — seems designed to drown out more inconvenient truths. As the saying goes, to catch a mouse, the state deploys traps meant for elephants.

The question remains: will this gameplan backfire on the BJP in the run-up to elections?

Will the buzz around Gungun Chetia — “gungun” meaning a faint hum — grow into a roar, especially since rice saplings carry deep cultural and emotional weight in Assamese society? Or is Gungun Chetia destined to be another seven-second wonder in Assam’s volatile political theatre?

In the coming months, we will see whether the hum fades — or turns into something the state can no longer ignore.