Assam marks fifth anniversary of CAA with protests by AJP and AASU

Marking five years of the passage of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, opposition Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and influential students' body AASU on Wednesday held protests against the legislation and termed it a "black law".

While AJP organised a protest at Chachal in Guwahati and said the law has become "illegal" after the Supreme Court verdict on the cut-off date of granting citizenship in Assam, the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) held an agitation in front of its headquarters in Uzanbazar area.

"Today is a dark day for Assam. On this day in 2019, the struggling people of Assam took to the streets despite the threat of the state forces and started their protest against the CAB, which later became CAA," AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, holding a black flag.

The painful memories of the CAA movement are still alive in the hearts of every proud Assamese and they still haunt the people like a nightmare, he added.

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"The Assamese community knows how to respond to traitors. We have not accepted the CAA and will never accept it. We will continue our struggle till the law is repealed," Gogoi said.

In a majority verdict, the Supreme Court on October 17 upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act which grants Indian citizenship to immigrants who came to Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis entering India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after five years of residence here.

The Centre on March 11 this year implemented the CAA by notifying the rules, four years after the law was passed by Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim immigrants.

The AASU leaders and supporters criticised the BJP government and said the organisation would continue their protests against the CAA till it is abolished.

After the Rajya Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on December 11, 2019, the state had erupted in uncontrolled protests, in which agitators engaged in pitch battles with security forces in almost every major city or town, forcing the administration to impose curfew in several towns and cities.

During violent protests, three rail stations, post office, bank, bus terminus, shops, dozens of vehicles and many other public properties were set ablaze or totally damaged in different parts of the state.