The self-respect of Assamese people can’t be defeated: Lurinjyoti Gogoi, AASU #antiCAA

GUWAHATI: Amidst weeks of a government-induced clampdown that also spilled over into police atrocities and the arrest of a large number of peaceful protestors, especially the arrest of entire leadership of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samittee (KMSS) the protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 has continued unabated in Assam. On December 22, almost all well-known litterateurs came out in protest against CAA and the arrest of KMSS advisor, Akhil Gogoi. This was visibly the largest such protest post  December 13, 2019 the day the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 (CAA)was passed in the Lok Sabha. These ongoing protests have compelled the government of Assam to go on a back foot; they began by an internet shut-down that continued for a week in the state.

Though the government of Assam is trying to pacify the people by disseminating doses of hate and manipulated propaganda, this has not deterred the protesters and an essentially secular protest. Every day, protests have continued all over Assam from remote villages to various district head-quarters to the state capital.

On December 22, the protest rally that was organized by Assamese civil society at Guwahati was epoch making. This protest rally of eminent citizens, writers, artists was attended among by noted cultural reporter Ratna Ozah, eminent singer Sudakshina Sarma, public intellectuals like Dr. Hiren Gohain, Homen Borgohain, eminent writer Dr. Anima Guha, Arupa Patangia Kalita, cultural activist Dilip Hazarika and many others. It was an emotional moment when the legendary artist Ratna Ozah flew in from Kolkata to Guwahati at his age of 90 plus only to attend the protest program against CAA. Like-wise two legendry literary personality of Assam Dr. Hiren Gohain and Homen Borgohain sat together for the first time in their life side lining their huge ideological differences. The protest rally unanimously passed the resolution to repeal CAA and to demand the release of Akhil Gogoi and other leaders with immediate effect.

At the same time, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuva Satra Parishad (AJYSP) and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samittee (KMSS) have been leading a series of protest meetings in various districts and rural areas to awaken people to resist CAA. The artist fraternity of Assam also participated in several days of continuous protest at Chandmari play ground in Guwahati against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Today, December 24, AASU took out another set of massive protests demanding the repeal of CAA in various district head-quarters. At these, thousands of people participated in the protest meeting in Dibrugarh and Tezpur. Addressing the huge rally at Chowkidingi play ground in Dibrugarh AASU general Secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi declared, “Until or unless the Citizenship Amendment Act is repealed the protest marches of AASU will continue.” He said, “The CAA is against the spirit of Assam agreement, 1985. It is against the self respect of Assamese people, it is violation of our Constitution. We can’t accept it. If the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and their disciples are determined to execute CAA then they must understand that the self-respect of the Assamese people will never be defeated. We will fight till our last breath to defeat the CAA.”

In Tezpur, attending a huge rally, called by AASU, it’s Advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya and President Dipanka Kumar Nath strongly criticised both the Union and state governments. Samujjal Bhattacharya said, “the Government of Assam and India are trying to bargain on the implementation of CAA by “offering to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. This has no justification. Sixth schedule of Assam Accord is our valid right, this cannot be the cost of (or exchange for) the implementation of CAA.” Dipanka Kumar Nath, President of AASU said, “AASU will fight against CAA until the last. Our protest will continue. The divisive action of the government will only strengthen our protest.” The protest meetings were also held in various parts of Assam today including Jorhat, Sivasagar, Tinsukia, Bongaigaon, Lakhimpur, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Nalbari, Barpeta and several other districts.

In the meantime Government of Assam has intensified its repressive actions against protestors all over the state. According to an admission by the state finance minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma 393 people has been arrested and many others detained. All these were protesters who were active in agitational programmes against CAA. Talking to the media Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Government is observing social media acutely. There were 206 posts in social media which were an “instigation of violence” and malafide propaganda. Hence, 28 cases have been lodged in various police stations of the state with relation to these posts. In all, 10 persons have been arrested and five of them have been released on bail. Twenty-one persons were summoned to police stations for questioning following which 58 social media posts have been deleted since December 9.”