Protests against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, continued unabated across Assam on Thursday, primarily under the aegis of student bodies AASU and AJYCP, with agitators vowing not to relent till the law is scrapped.
The Opposition Congress, which has kick-started an 800-km ’padyatra’ from Sadiya in eastern Assam to Dhubri in the western end of the State, reached Demow in Sivasagar district with thousands of participants.
The largest anti-CAA gathering took place at Tangla in Udalguri district under the banner of the All Assam Students’ Union.
“[Prime Minister] Narendra Modi, [Union Home Minister] Amit Shah and their puppets [Chief Minister] Sarbananda [Sonowal] and [State Minister] Himanta [Biswa Sarma] are planning to snatch our food, but we will not tolerate that.
“Assam has to be for Assamese always. A conspiracy is being hatched to finish the identity, language and culture of the Assamese people,” AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said while addressing the huge crowd.
Popular singers Zubeen Garg and Manas Robin and theatre artiste Pabitra Rabha also participated in the protest.
After singing a protest song that he has penned, Robin said, “The BJP government had promised to give two lakh jobs a year and seal the border with Bangladesh. Both did not materialise. Today, we are on the streets because we do not accept CAA as it will destroy us.”
AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath said the agitation against the Act will continue in the court and on the streets.
Protests were also held in Golaghat, Lakhimpur, Morigaon and Sivasagar.
