Image: Twitter / @SamujjalBhatta
On Saturday, December 12, the first anniversary of the day when five people were killed during an agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state of Assam, several Assamese organisations came together to renew their commitment to the struggle against the “unconstitutional” and “anti-Assam” law.
All Assam Students Union (AASU), Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), Coordination Committee Against Citizenship Amendment Act (CCACAA), Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad and Lachit Sena held a ceremony in Guwahati where they paid tributes to the five people who were killed during the Anti-CAA protests, namely; Dipanjal Das, Sam Stafford, Ishwar Nayak, Abdul Alim and Dwijendra Panging.
AASU Chief Advisor Dr. Samujjal Bhattacharjya, said, “Today, we pay tribute to the five martyrs who lost their lives in the anti-CAA movement and all those who were shot,” adding, “The sacrifice of the martyrs will not be in vain.”
‘কা’ বিৰোধী আন্দোলনত প্ৰাণ আহুতি দিয়া ৫ গৰাকী শ্বহীদক শ্ৰদ্ধাঞ্জলি আৰু গুলীবিদ্ধ সকলক আজি শ্ৰদ্ধা জনোৱা হয়।
গুৱাহাটীকে ধৰি অসমৰ জিলা সদৰ সমূহত ‘কা’ বাতিলৰ দাবীত গণহুঙ্কাৰ কাৰ্যসূচীৰে প্ৰতিবাদ সাব্যস্ত কৰা হয়।
শ্বহীদৰ ত্যাগক অথলে যাবলৈ দিয়া নহ’ব।‘কা’ আমি নামানো,বাতিল কৰক pic.twitter.com/mtFyQpKbnz
— Dr. Samujjal Bhattacharjya (@SamujjalBhatta) December 12, 2020
The groups held a mass rally in the city. This was just a day after the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) observed Black Day across the North East.
As the passing of unconstitutional #CAA completes a year, NESO is observing Black Day in NE today. Total NE bandh observed on 10 Dec,2019 must not be forgotten by the Govt. Strongly condemn CAA & reiterate our demand for its scrapping@PMOIndia@HMOIndia@CMOfficeAssam #NoToCAA pic.twitter.com/bh1eLHqgvB
— Dr. Samujjal Bhattacharjya (@SamujjalBhatta) December 11, 2020
While the government pushed for the passage of the act that welcomes persecuted non-Muslim refugees from three of India’s neighbouring countries; Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, people of Assam are opposed to it as it legitimises an influx of Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh.
Assam has a long and bloody history of opposing what it sees as an influx of Bangladeshis, irrespective of their religion, into the state from across a highly porous border with the neighbouring country. Such an influx is viewed by the people of the state as a threat to their demography. This was evident in the Assam Movement that led to the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985 and resulted in the update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) with the objective of weeding out ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi immigrants from Assam.
A forum of parties and organisations came together in Assam on November 30, to renew their commitment to protest the CAA. The forum named Coordination Committee Against Citizenship Amendment Act (CCACAA) has been mobilising various groups to protest the CAA across Assam.
Related:
Aug’19 NRC was supplementary list: NRC Co-ordinator