GUWAHATI: The All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) on Sunday staged statewide protests against Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Assam by waving black flags and burning copies of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Police intensified patrolling in lower Assam’s Nalbari district, an Aasu bastion, where Shah addressed thousands of party workers at the “Vijay Sankalp Samaroh” rally. While Aasu activists burnt copies of CAA and the effigy of Shah in various parts of the state, condemning the Centre’s move to regularise the entry of non-Muslims by implementing CAA, in Nalbari, the protest was more intense. At Chabua in Dibrugarh, Aasu members staged highway blockade, while at Gohpur in northern Assam, several activists were detained by police during a protest.
“The Centre and the state have failed to deport illegal migrants. Now they are playing Hindu-Muslim politics. Today, the Sonowal government is out to curb the protests by using police force. We won’t stop,” said president of the Kamrup (M) district committee of Aasu, Razmil Ali.
“The government’s blueprint is to turn the indigenous communities and tribes into minorities in Assam by giving citizenship to lakhs of illegal migrants through CAA. For us, there is no other option apart from protests,” said Aasu president Dipanka Nath.
Aasu general secretary Sankar Jyoti Baruah hit out at CM Sarbananda Sonowal for police action on their members, while protesting against the PM and Union home minister's visit.