Guwahati, Mar 14 (PTI) Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA took place across Assam on Thursday with opposition parties, student bodies and social groups burning copies of the rules, hoisting black flags and holding demonstrations.
The state TMC burnt copies of CAA rules in all districts and vowed not to allow implementation of the law.
“No Assamese will remain silent when his own community’s very existence and self-respect are attacked. The BJP has rolled out the CAA only for vote bank politics. If CAA is not repealed, we will launch more intense agitation in the coming days,” state TMC president Ripun Bora said.
A forum for anti-CAA activists also held a protest march in Guwahati. Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan joined it and said the BJP-led government has implemented the legislation only to polarise the society.
The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) hoisted black flags in Guwahati, Chandrapur, Barpeta, Raha, Golaghat, Morigaon, Sipajhar, Sonari, Gossaigaon, Bijni, Kokrajhar and Lakhimpur, among other places of the state, against the CAA.
AASU chief adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharjya said non-violent and democratic protest will continue until the act is repealed.
Anti-CAA protests by opposition parties, such as the Congress and Raijor Dal, and various other organisations have been taking place in the state for the last four days. Students of various colleges and universities also staged demonstrations outside their campuses.
They have been opposing the CAA, claiming that it violates the provision of the 1985 Assam Accord.
According to the Assam Accord, names of all foreigners who came to Assam on or after March 25, 1971 would be detected and deleted from electoral rolls and steps would be taken to deport them.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. PTI TR TR SOM
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