NAGAON, Jan 4 - People from various walks of life gathered at the Nehrubali field here today in thousands to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act with organisations like the AASU and AJYCP, besides writers, lawyers and intellectuals raising their voice against the contentious legislation.
Significantly, due to the massive protest, the markets, commercial establishments and educational institutions of the town closed down spontaneously during the rally which hit normal life.
Addressing the rally, AASU chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said the CAA would not only crush the identity of the indigenous people but also set up them as second category citizens in their own land. He said Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal did a great mistake by supporting the CAA, while dishonouring the Assam Accord.
�It is his (Sonowal�s) inexcusable crime against the greater Assamese nation,� Bhattacharya said, adding that forgetting those 855 martyrs of the Assam Agitation and the six martyrs of the recent anti-CAA stir, Sonowal has failed to feel the pains in the hearts of indigenous people of the State. �Those who have sneaked into Assam from Bangladesh are now close to his (Sonowal�s) heart,� he added.
Terming the amended citizenship law as unconstitutional and communal, Bhattacharya slammed the BJP governments at the Centre and in the State stating that Delhi was conspiring to divide the entire Northeast. �But the people of the region will never fall in this trap of the saffron party,� he said asserting that the people of Assam will never let anyone lay red carpets to welcome illegal Bangladeshi nationals. �Hindu or Muslim, every illegal Bangladeshi who has entered Assam after 1971, the Assam Accord cut-off year, will have to be detected and deported,� he demanded.
Addressing the gathering, AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said Delhi was frightened to see the unity, strength and courage of the indigenous people of Assam and the Northeast. �Delhi should understand that this agitation against the CAA cannot be suppressed or dominated with force,� he said, adding government peace rallies amidst massive public protests were nothing but a drama.
Among various speakers, senior journalist Ajit Kumar Bhuyan also addressed the protest rally.
