Even as anti-CAA protests continued in different parts of Assam, with participation of thousands of students, lawyers and general public today, the ruling BJP also engaged in a show of power by organizing a ‘Peace Rally’ in Nalbari town, about 70 kms from main city Guwahati.
The ‘Peace Rally’ at Nalbari coincided with a protest programme ‘Bajranidan’ by All Assam Students Union (AASU) in the same town, while lawyers in Nalbari as well as other parts of the state also took out protest rallies against the CAA on December 20.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, state Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and all top BJP leaders were at attendance at the peace rally, for which the entire town was turned into a security fortress.
ADG (Law and Order) GP Singh had reached Nalbari last night itself to oversee the security arrangements.
Alongside the BJP rally, a protest programme was organized in Nalbari by AASU and its supporters.
Lawyers of the town also took out a protest rally through the streets of Nalbari, to register their opposition to the CAA.
Similar protest processions were taken out by lawyers in different parts of the state, including at Dibrugarh, with the lawyers submitting memorandum against the CAA to the deputy commissioners.
In Guwahati, the All Assam Lawyers Association carried out a ‘Raj Bhawan Chalo’ programme against CAA, and submitted a memorandum to the Governor.
Protests were staged in other parts of the state also, including at Nagaon, where students joined the agitation in large numbers.
Assam has been in grip of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, that seeks to grant Indian citizenship to illegal Hindu, Parsi, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Christian migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who had entered India prior to December 31, 2014, without any documents.
People of Northeastern states, especially Assam and Tripura, are demanding its revocation as they fear being ‘overrun’ by non-Muslims from neighbouring Bangladesh.
