Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Feb 1: The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) today burnt the effigies of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in various parts of the State, in protests against the alleged police atrocities on the AASU protestors in Tezpur and Sualkuchi.
The students’ body alleged that the State was using brutal force to curb peaceful and democratic protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the draft EIA 2020 and the illegal influx.
“After the police attack on the AASU protestors in Tezpur ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, the AASU activists were once again attacked by the police in Sualkuchi on January 31, when they were peacefully protesting against the CAA and demanding the implementation of the Assam Accord. We have all the reasons to believe that police acted as per the instructions of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also heads the Home Department,” said AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath and general secretary Sankor Jyoti Baruah.
The students’ body also pointed out that three AASU activists, including girls, were injured in the Sualkuchi incident and have been admitted to the GMCH. “In protest activities, where girl students were also participating, only male security personnel were deployed to curb the protest forcefully, which is highly condemnable. Such acts of the State government cannot stop the students’ body from staging more vigorous agitations in the future,” the AASU leaders stated.
In Guwahati, the Chief Minister’s effigy was burnt in front of the Swahid Nyas Bhavan at Uzanbazar.
The AASU activists shouted slogans against the Chief Minister and the State government and demanded a total repeal of CAA without delay and implementation of the recommendations of the high-level committee on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.
Our Jorabat Correspondent adds: The Dimoria unit of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) today staged a protest in Sonapur against the assault on AASU members by police in Sualkuchi on Sunday and at Tezpur recently during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) demonstrations.
The union also demanded that the government repeal the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
An effigy of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was also burnt in Sonapur New Market area as a mark of its protest programme.
The protesters while raising slogans against the ruling BJP government in the State, warned it to refrain from such acts in the future.
