GUWAHATI, Jan 5 - Continuing with its series of ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the artistes fraternity under the banner of Silpi Samaj together with the All Assam Students Union today staged a march from the Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Samadhi Kshetra at Jalukbari to Dighalipukhuri.
Thousands of people including many drawn from the spheres of art, culture and literature joined the rally, shouting slogans as well as singing accompanied by music.
Among those at the forefront of the rally were singer-composers Zubeen Garg and Manas Robin, AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi and chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya.
Asserting that the mass stir would continue till the contentious Act was repealed by the BJP-led Central Government, Garg said that the people of Assam had made their opposition to the Act in clear terms and the Government must heed the people�s voice.
�The democratic protests will go on and Delhi will have to hear our legitimate voice of protest. Let Prime Minister Modi come and see the mass protests. He needs to understand the wounded psyche of the Assamese masses,� he said.
Garg added that protests would be peaceful and democratic and that normal life of the State should not be disturbed. �It is good that Guwahati is hosting today the T20 international match. We need sports too. Our movement is not against sports,� he said.
Lurinjyoti Gogoi reiterated that the Centre must desist from imposing its arbitrary and autocratic will on the agitating masses and see reason.
�Our protests are democratic and will continue till the black Act is scrapped. The mandate of the Assam Accord must be honoured,� the student leader said.
�All illegal Bangladeshi migrants irrespective of whether they are Hindus or Muslims should be detected on the basis of the cut-off date of March 25, 1971, and deported. How can the BJP Government even talk of accommodating more migrants when Assam is struggling with a huge load of illegal Bangladeshi migrants?� he said.
The rally culminated at the Dighalipukhuri point where the leaders addressed the public and pledged to carry forward the mass movement.
