New Delhi: The Ministry of Culture picked 13 top edifices, including some Archeological Survey of India (ASI) protected ones, to be part of the Narendra Modi government’s massive public outreach to mark the 100th episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on April 30. Among them was an ASI-protected 18th–century Ahom-era monument in Assam, the Rang Ghar.However, a day before it, hundreds of locals from the northeastern state’s Sivasagar district, in which Rang Ghar is located, took to the streets, raising slogans against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its government. The trigger for the public protest was a laser show that flashed religious symbols on the façade of the edifice by a government-appointed private player roped in for the public outreach event. A PTI report quoting government officials said the show was to “showcase the historic, architectural importance and distinctiveness of the region, highlighting the diversity of India as a country, on the lines of diverse topics and themes addressed by the Prime Minister in his (radio) broadcast”.Alongside the street protest, considerable citizen outrage was noted on social media while political parties, student activists and academics across the state also expressed their shock and indignation at such a move by the Union government. According to media reports, the religious symbols were noticed when on Friday evening, the ministry-appointed private player carried out a test run of the show to be flashed on Sunday evening as part of the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ outreach.The first to take umbrage publicly was Sivasagar assembly constituency MLA and Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi, who shot off a letter to state chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and ASI director general V. Vidyavathi flagging the issue. “Rang Ghar represents the glorious era of the Ahom kingdom. It has never been used for the projection of religious symbols. Any projection of religious symbols on Rang Ghar would not be tolerated,” Gogoi wrote.Stating that people are not opposed to Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ or the celebration, he said the laser show planned at Rang Ghar “has to presciently depict the history of Assamese jati (community) and heritage only and any other religious symbols or programs should not be depicted or projected on the structure of the Rang Ghar”.Leader of the Opposition at the assembly and the Congress MLA from the district’s Nazira constituency, Debabrat Saikia told mediapersons that the monument is a pride of the Assamese community and “no party should be allowed to use it for political benefit or display its own symbols”.Former All Assam Students Union general secretary and now president of the Asam Jatiya Parishad, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, too opposed the move, “Rang Ghar has its own colour; it symbolises Assam and its unity. We will not tolerate the use of any religious symbols to represent it,” PTI quoted him as saying.News reports quoted Akhil Gogoi telling local reporters on April 29 that he received a reply from the ASI and the officials had assured him that no religious symbols would be used in the laser show. He also said that a meeting was held at the intervention of the district deputy commissioner Aditya Vikram Yadav with ASI and the controversial parts were cut out of the final show.Later speaking to reporters, Yadav called it a “misunderstanding”, adding, that a “wrong tape” was run by the private party during the trial run on Friday night and the final cut was approved after consulting different stakeholders. “The ASI is conducting the programme and there were few trials of the laser show on Friday night. Some wrong tapes were used during the trials and some people clicked pictures of that which surfaced on social media later,” he told the Hindustan Times.Rang Ghar, construction for which began in 1744, is Asia’s largest amphitheatre. It was used later by the Ahom kings as a sporting pavilion.This is the second instance of the use of an Ahom-era edifice for religious purposes by the ruling BJP. In 2016, there was public outrage after RSS held a “cleanliness drive” at the 18th–century palace, Kareng Ghar, located in Sivasagar district, and allegedly raised Hindutva slogans. “Kareng Ghar is a secular place which they defiled. So we had to purify it with the help of (Ahom) priests,” Nitul Borgohain, president of All Assam Tai Ahom Students Union told New Indian Express after carrying out a ‘purification’ drive.