Assam faces another round of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) of 2019 with a conglomerate of 16 political parties and about 30 NGOs announcing a series of agitations.
The anti-CAA programmes are scheduled to start with a motorcycle rally in every district headquarters followed by the burning of the CAA rules after they are notified. The NGOs headed by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) will also observe a 12-hour hunger strike on March 9 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the State.
Mr. Modi will be on a two-day visit to Assam from March 8 for a jungle safari in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve and to unveil a 125-foot statue of 17th-century Ahom general Lachit Borphukan apart from initiating other projects.
“The Assamese people will never accept the CAA and we will continue our democratic and legal fight against the Centre’s bid to impose it on us,” AASU president Utpal Sarma said on Thursday, slamming Home Minister Amit Shah for announcing that the rules of the CAA would be framed soon for implementation.
The 16-party United Opposition Forum Assam headed by Congress has threatened a mass agitation against the CAA. Members of the forum met Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Thursday and submitted a memorandum addressed to President Droupadi Murmu, urging the Centre to desist from thrusting the CAA on the people of Assam.
“Assam is already burdened with lakhs of foreigners. We cannot take any more. We shall seek an appointment with the Prime Minister to discuss the issue. We will go for an agitation if the Centre is insistent on pushing the CAA,” State Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah said.
State govt. warning
The Assam government has warned the anti-CAA groups against imposing shutdowns and damaging public property. Referring to a Gauhati High Court order on bandhs, State Director General of Police G.P. Singh said the State sustained a loss of ₹1,643 crore from a day of bandh.
The loss would be recovered from those who call bandhs, he said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said anti-CAA protests would be irrelevant as Parliament had passed the law. “People have the right to like or dislike the CAA but they should ideally approach the Supreme Court which has the authority to terminate any legislation,” he said.
The CAA seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindu, Jain, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, and Parsi people who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014, after five years of living in the country.
Many in Assam say the CAA undermines the Assam Accord of 1985, which prescribed March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for detecting and deporting people who entered India illegally.
