It’s been almost a month after the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed by the parliament on December 11th, 2019. The protests against the act have continued unabated across the nation.
The North East Students” Organisation (NESO) and the All Assam Students” Union (AASU) on January 7th, 2020, while reiterating their vehement opposition, demanded to scrap the contentious Act. “We won’t tolerate any illegal Bangladeshi in the state,” NESO and AASU chief advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya said in a press conference today.
Also read: ‘Their Guns Cannot Silence Us’: AASU Attacks Assam CM Over CAA
He accused the state Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal of betraying the people of the state by supporting the legislation. He further said that the act is communal and unconstitutional. “We will continue our non-violent agitation against the new law till it is scrapped,” he added.
AASU and other 30 supporting organisations staged a sit-in protest in Assam’s Biswanath today demanding to scrap of the act. Protests also staged in other places of the state including Panitola and Goreswar. Hundreds of people joined the agitations.
The protest, which gripped the state following the passage of the bill on December 11th, 2019, later spread to other parts of the country. It also turned violent in some parts. Protestors set buses on fire and damaged public properties. Curfew was imposed. Internet services were suspended for 9 days. A total of five youths were killed in police firing during the protests in Guwahati.
AASU had announced a series of agitations on January 3rd, 9th, 11th, 14th and 15th, 2020. The artistes’ fraternity and other organisations reorienting various ethnic groups supported the program.
Inputs: Sayanika Deka, Keshab Mahanta, Abhijit Talukdar
Photo: Keshab Mahanta
