GAUHATI (Assam): The All Assam Students Union (AASU) has said that it will not accept Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and started protest against the implementation of the act in Assam.
Indian media reported that the protest has started in many parts in Assam along with 11 other parties and organizations taking part and reaffirmed that the protests will be organized inside Assam and all over India.
A large number of students in Gauhati University also hold protest against the implementation of the CAA. Heavy contingent of police personnel were deployed in the university creating a tense and fearsome atmosphere after students rejected the act.
The protest was led by Jintu Das, president of the PGSU at the university, said Assami media.
The AASU has also asked Indian Supreme Court to stay the implementation of the CAA and argued that the act ‘legitimizes illegal migration”, and “adversely impacts indigenous traditions and violates constitutional provisions.”
Assam’s Lakhimpur and Dibrugarh saw effigies of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, Indian PM Narender Modi, and copies of the act being burned in public.
Assam has also witnessed a newly formed opposition bloc comprising of 16 parties. Called the United Opposition Forum of Assam (UOFA), the coalition includes the Congress, Raijor Dal, Asom Jatiya Parishad, Aam Aadmi Party, Assam Trinamool Congress, CPI (M), CPI, All India Forward Bloc, CPI (M-L), NCP – Sharad Pawar (Assam), Samajwadi Party (Assam), Purbanchalio Lok Parishad, Jatiya Dal, APHLC (Assam), Shiv Sena (Assam) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (Assam).
The UOFA has also expressed their disagreement with the CAA 2019 and has called for a state-wide strike.
It argues that this act is unconstitutional and goes against the Assam Accord that was signed in 1985.
As of the latest data, 19,06,657 people in Assam have been excluded from the final draft of the NRC (National Registry of Citizens) which was released in 2019. Many people have also lost their life during the process of NRC and citizenship and a total of 31 people have died in Assam’s detention camps.
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