Anti-CAA protests in Assam, effigies of PM, HM burnt

Guwahati: Protests against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) erupted across Assam on Tuesday with effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and copies of the law being burnt.

The All Assam Students' Union (AASU), 30 non-political indigenous organisations besides Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), Congress, Raijor Dal and CPI(M) launched protests in various parts of the northeastern state a day after the CAA was implemented by the BJP-led government at the Centre.

The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) burnt the effigies of the prime minister and the home minister in Lakhimpur and Dibrugarh.

Shouting slogans against the CAA, the supporters of AASU and 30 non-political indigenous organisations took out torchlight processions across the state in the evening.

The AASU, led by its Advisor Samujjal Bhattacharjya, organised a march near the high court and Raj Bhavan in Guwahati. AASU leaders went to New Delhi to pursue a petition against the Act in the Supreme Court and returned to take part in the procession in the evening.

The AASU had spearheaded the six-year-long Assam agitation since 1979 leading to the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985.

Congress workers led by Leader of the Opposition in Assam assembly Debabrata Saikia staged a protest in front of its state headquarters in Guwahati and burnt copies of the Act. Its supporters also staged protests in other parts of the state including Lakhimpur and Barpeta. Activists of Raijor Dal, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and the Chatra Mukti Parishad protested against the contentious law and raised slogans against the Centre at Sivasagar, Guwahati, Jorhat and Dibrugarh.

Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi joined the protestors in Sivasagar and the police took some members into preventive custody but they were later released.

Gogoi had spent 567 days in jail for his alleged role in the 2019 anti-CAA agitation until a Special NIA Court cleared him of all charges, The CPI(M) also held a demonstration against the implementation of the Act in Guwahati, Kamrup's Rangia town and in Sorbhog town of Barpeta district where the police stopped the protestors.

In Dibrugarh, the Assam Jatiya Parishad, led by its president Lurinjyoti Gogoi, took out a rally while the All Assam Tai Ahom Students Union (AATASU) observed a two-hour sit-in at Chowkidinghee.

Students of various colleges organised protests outside their respective institutions in Guwahati and other parts of the state.

The 12-hour 'Sarbatamak Hartal', called by the 16-party United Opposition Forum Assam (UOFA), however, did not evoke much response.

Shops and business establishments remained closed in a few districts such as Sivasagar, Golaghat, Nagaon and Kamrup.

The Assam Police have issued notices to opposition parties, asking them to withdraw the hartal over the implementation of the CAA, and warned that "legal action" will be taken against them if they fail to follow the diktat, officials said on Tuesday.

''Notices were served by the Assam Police to ensure that there is no damage to public property and risk to life of the people through any forceful agitation in the state," Director General of Police G P Singh said.

Criticising the notices issued by the Assam Police, Congress leader Debabrata Saikia said it was ''shameful that the state police department was acting at the behest of the BJP government''.

''We will continue to protest against the implementation of the Act peacefully and democratically," he said.

In Sonitpur, the district administration has imposed Section 144 of CrPC and prohibited holding of meetings, demonstrations, processions and sloganeering in public places to prevent any untoward incident.

Security has been tightened across the state with additional deployment of police personnel in sensitive areas, while all police stations in the state have been put on an alert.

Patrolling has been intensified and check-posts have been set up on arterial roads in almost all the cities and towns of the state, where protests were held over the issue in 2019.

The CAA protests against the Act in the state in 2019 were led primarily by the AASU and the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and had turned violent with five persons losing their lives to police firing.