Farm laws' withdrawal to boost anti-CAA protests in Assam

After the Prime Minister on Friday announced the withdrawal of farm laws, clamour grows for the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) agitation in Assam, which had turned violent in December 2019.

The Co-ordination Committee Against Citizenship Amendment Act has announced that it would organise a fresh protest in Guwahati on December 12, to mark the two years of the anti-CAA agitation.

As per reports, organizations opposed to the CAA, including the influential All Assam Students' Union (AASU), have decided to take to the streets again till the Act is repealed by the Centre in the way it bowed before the protests against the new farm laws.

AASU adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharjya in a talk with reporters in Guwahati said that the agitation against the CAA, although could not be taken forward due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will continue.

He noted that the CAA is not only against the Constitution but also is a serious threat to identity of indigenous communities in Assam and rest of the Northeast.

 AASU had spearheaded the anti-CAA agitation, which turned violent on December 12, 2019 in Guwahati and parts of Assam after it was passed by the Centre. Five protesters died in a subsequent police firing incident.

Many organisations like AASU say the the CAA would pose a threat to Assamese identity as it seeks to offer citizenship to large number Hindu and other non-Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, led by Akhil Gogoi, on Saturday appealed to all organisations to launch a joint movement again to force the Centre to repeal the CAA.

Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a regional party which came into being out of the anti-CAA agitation, said farmers' successful protest against the farms laws would give a push to the anti-CAA agitation, which should also continue till the Act is repealed. AJP contested the Assembly elections in Assam in March-April this year with the CAA as its main poll plank but failed to win a single seat.

The ruling BJP in Assam claims people of the state voted in favour of CAA and thus they elected the saffron party and its allies for the second consecutive term despite the protests.