The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), accompanied by 30 other organizations, commenced a 12-hour hunger strike at the old ASTC bus stand in Dibrugarh’s Thana Chariali to express vehement opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This protest coincides with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The AASU is adding its voice to the growing dissent against the CAA, a contentious issue that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has hinted at implementing before the polls.
Leading the protest, AASU General Secretary Shankarjyoti Baruah declared Assam’s unwavering resistance to the CAA. He accused the BJP of betraying its commitment to safeguard the state’s indigenous communities (“jati, mati, bheti”) and prioritizing vote bank politics over Assamese interests.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal have betrayed the people of Assam,” Baruah asserted.
“We will not forget or forgive this. If they impose the CAA, the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will be our answer to the BJP,” he added.
Baruah highlighted the threat the CAA poses to Assamese identity and the potential scenario of Assamese people becoming a minority in their own state.
He condemned the BJP government’s endorsement of the act, describing it as a violation of Assam’s secular fabric, the Constitution, and the Assam Accord.
The CAA continues to be a contentious issue in Assam, with widespread opposition to its provisions offering citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from neighboring countries who arrived before 2014.
, accompanied by 30 other organizations, commenced a 12-hour hunger strike at the old ASTC bus stand in Dibrugarh’s Thana Chariali to express vehement opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).){kind=link}