Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Assam, All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and 30 other ethnic organizations on March 7 hit the streets of Assam to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The members of AASU earlier in the day took out a bike rally in Guwahati to protest against CAA. The protesters raised slogans against the CAA and demanded the centre to scrap it.
The CAA, introduced by the Narendra Modi government, aims to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
Following the passage of the CAA by Parliament in December 2019 and its subsequent presidential assent, significant protests erupted in various parts of the country.
Samujjal Bhattacharya, chief advisor of AASU said that All Assam Students’ Union and 30 other ethnic organizations have decided to launch a movement against the CAA and the conspiracy by the Government of India to impose rules under the act.
“Today, the bike rally was held throughout the state in all district headquarters. There will be a series of movements against the CAA in the state. We would like to warn the central government that, the people of Assam and Northeast won’t accept the CAA because Assam and North East are not the dumping ground of illegal Bangladeshis,” Samujjal Bhattacharya said.
“After the historic Assam Movement Assam Accord was signed, the foreigners’ problem must be solved by implementing all clauses of the Assam Accord. It will be a peaceful, non-violent movement and along with this the legal fight is on,” he said.
PM Modi is scheduled to embark on a two-day visit to the state from March 8. During the visit, he will launch several development projects worth around Rs 18,000 crore in the state.
The prime minister will also visit the UNESCO heritage site Kaziranga National Park and undertake a safari there, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier said in a press conference.
Modi will arrive in Assam on March 8 afternoon and will spend the night at Kaziranga National Park, CM Sarma said. From Assam, the prime minister will leave for West Bengal, he added.
