AMN / MORIGAON (ASSAM)
The All Assam Students’ Union AASU has declared that it will never accept Citizenship (Amendment) Act and it will go on agitation until the anti-Assam Act is revoked.
Addressing a mammoth CAA protest gathering here Monday, AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said that AASU is committed to the people of Assam and will challenge the Central government regarding the CAA through a mass movement.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma are misleading the people by saying that the CAA will not affect the Assamese nationality, Bhattacharya alleged.
The BJP government is conspiring to settle the Hindu Bangladeshis in Assam who had come after 1971 by violating the Clause 5 of the Assam Accord. He added that the settlement of Hindu Bangladeshis in Assam is a hidden agenda of the BJP, which will polarise the voters on religious ground.
Speaking on the occasion, AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said the CAA is blatantly anti-Assam as it will ensure citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis in Assam which will, in turn, harm the Assamese language and literature. The official status of Assamese language will be hampered by the implementation of the CAA, Gogoi alleged.
Gogoi further said that the Assamese nationality was formed on the basis of Assamese language and not on religion. The Assamese people will soon get rid of the CAA, he said.
He also cautioned the people of Assam about the divide-and-rule policy of the government to control the anti-CAA movement.
Gogoi questioned as to how the Inner Line permit (ILP) system was sanctioned to Manipur and Meghalaya which will come into force on January 1, while Assam was given only assurances of implementing Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. The implementation of Clause 6 of Assam Accord is meaningless if CAA is promulgated in Assam, Gogoi added.