GUWAHATI, Feb 14 - Activist and former Aam Admi Party (AAP) member Yogendra Yadav today said that illegal influx is a genuine problem of Assam and the Assam Accord that was a national commitment cannot be violated at the whims of the present ruling dispensation.
Addressing a gathering of distinguished citizens and intellectuals at the Guwahati Press Club here, Yadav said it is time for all the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in different parts of the country to unite and be given the form of a national movement.
Currently heading a socio-political organisation Swaraj Abhiyan, Yadav said the anti-CAA protesters of the North East, minority community protesters and youths protesting against CAA in different institutions should unite to make the movement stronger.
Seeking support for the cause, Yadav also met AASU chief adviser Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya and KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi. �Despite being in jail, spirits of Akhil Gogoi are very high and he believes that the anti-CAA movement would grow stronger. We would take a resolution demanding his immediate release,� he added.
Noted intellectual Dr Hiren Gohain, who also attended the meeting, said it is an extraordinary situation where the country is in a pall of gloom under a regime of despotism that pays no heed to criticism, dissent or any democratic movement.
�However, there is a flicker of light that the stir across the country is being led by the youth and women. The victory of AAP in Delhi is another positive development for Indian democracy,� he added.
�Assam Accord was signed by the Union government, State government and the agitators. After 40 years it cannot be changed as per anybody�s wish. If that is to happen, all national accords and commitments would be rendered valueless,� he added.
With an attempt to unite all anti-CAA protesters across the country through his common platform �We the people of India�, Yadav is also opposing countrywide NRC and NPR through the forum, with the support of all the major anti-CAA-NRC-NPR bodies across India.
�Let�s not oppose the NRC in Assam. The exercise, though taken up very late in the State, is like medicine for the influx problem in Assam. However, doing the same for the entire country unnecessarily is like prescribing the same medicine to those who don�t even need it. The Centre, through NRC, NPR and CAA, is trying to create two categories of citizens,� he added.
