LIVE | Assam police 'order' Opposition parties to withdraw stir against CAA, warn of action

Opposition parties in Assam have flayed the BJP government at the Centre for implementing the contentious CAA.

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), which launched a six-year agitation demanding the identification and deportation of illegal immigrants in 1979, said it will fight legally against the Centre’s move.

Congress LoP in Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, termed the notification of CAA as “unfortunate”.

“When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP had been saying since 2016 that all illegal foreigners will have to leave Assam, they betrayed the people of the state and brought in the CAA,” Saikia told PTI.

The people of Assam will make the PM and the BJP answerable for it, he added.

Raijor Dal President and MLA Akhil Gogoi said, “The process to legitimise 15-20 lakh Bangladeshi Hindus illegally living in Assam has begun. There is no other way but to come out on the street and protest against this unconstitutional act.”

Assam and several other northeastern states had witnessed protests after the BJP-led government at the Centre moved towards amending the citizenship act.

A section of the people of the region were scared that if the CAA is implemented, it would endanger their identity and livelihood.

“This is Delhi’s attack on Assam and the entire country. We appeal to all to come out and protest against this law peacefully and democratically,” Gogoi told PTI.

“Assam’s long struggle against illegal immigration has been nullified with just this one act. This act will also open the doors for 1.7 crore Hindus living in Bangladesh to cross over to Assam. There is no other option but to fight against this act with full force. It has to be an all-encompassing protest,” he said.

Chief advisor of AASU and North East Students’ Organisation Samujjal Bhattacharjya told PTI that the AASU will not accept the CAA and will continue to protest against it.

“We are already in talks with our advocates and will continue our legal fight against its implementation,” he said.

Meanwhile, BJP Senior Spokesperson Rupam Goswami welcomed the notification of the rules of the CAA as “this was much awaited”.

“There was a misinformation campaign by the Opposition that crores of Hindus from Bangladesh would enter Assam after the law was passed by Parliament, but nothing of that sort has happened,” Goswami said.

Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur has termed the implementation of CAA a tactic by the BJP government at the Centre to divert people’s attention and foster religious polarisation ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Thakur said the Modi government appeared to be baffled after the Supreme Court dismissed the SBI’s request for an extension of time to disclose the details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission by March 12.

“The saffron party is in deep trouble after the Supreme Court’s order. Finding no way, it notified the CAA rules just to divert people’s mind from the issue,” Thakur said.

Thakur said the BJP wanted to create religious polarisation just ahead the Lok Sabha polls. “But, people of the country have understood the party and its stand. The CAA will not be in the interest of the country like other policies of the Modi government,” he said.

A section of West Bengal’s Matua community celebrated the implementation of the CAA 2019 at the headquarters of the sect in Thakurnagar, North 24-Parganas, on Monday, claiming it to be their “second Independence Day”.

Matuas, originally from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), are a weaker section of Hindus who migrated to India during the Partition and after the creation of Bangladesh.

The community, with an estimated population of three million in the state, can tilt the scales in favour of a political party in more than 30 assembly seats in Nadia, and North and South 24-Parganas districts bordering Bangladesh.

Members of the Matua community celebrated the occasion by beating drums and exchanging pleasantries and expressed their gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and local MP and Union minister Santanu Thakur for the Act’s implementation.

They hailed the moment as a defining one for them, expressing joy at finally being granted citizenship. However, a TMC supporter from the area, belonging to the sect, claimed that people of the community had previously obtained voter ID cards, ration cards, and Aadhaar cards, which were deactivated by the BJP a month ago.

The Matuas had once stood behind the TMC but supported the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.