GUWAHATI: The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), an influential students’ organization of the state, has announced that it will hit the streets again against the ‘anti-indigenous’ Citizenship Amendment Act.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, general secretary of the organization, Palash Changmai, said AJYCP will organise mass demonstrations at the district headquarters across the state on January 9. “The people, who had joined the agitation in December 2019, will join this demonstration as well. There is a need of reviving the protests for the sake of the Assamese community and its diverse culture and land,” he added.
He also announced that the students’ unit will also hold a statewide torch rally demanding scrapping of the “draconian” Act on January 20. “The protests will go on until the BJP-led government withdraws the Act and protects the indigenous people of the state. Agitations came to halt because of the pandemic, but the sentiment of the people is still the same. People of Assam will not accept the Act at any cost,” Palash added.
The organization will also hold 500 public meetings across the state on January 27. “We cannot let the Assamese community become extinct. We will not let the sacrifices of the five youths, who were killed during protests in 2019 December, go in vain. We have to give them justice and the government has to scrap the Act,” Changmai said. Besides CAA, Changmai also demanded implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in the state. “Implementation of the ILP system is the need of the hour to protect the land of the state. Why can’t Assam have the system that is already there in the neighbouring states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland?” Changmai asked.
Meanwhile, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), one of the organizations that has been on the forefront of anti-CAA protests, has revived its agitations. The protesters in Guwahati demanded scrapping of the Act for the greater interest of the Assamese community.