Guwahati: Protests against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 continued unabated Thursday across Assam, primarily under the aegis of student bodies All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP), with agitators vowing not to relent till the law is scrapped.
Opposition Congress, which has kick-started an 800-km ‘padyatra’ from Sadiya in eastern Assam to Dhubri in the western end of the state, reached Demow in Sivasagar district with thousands of participants.
The largest anti-CAA gathering took place at Tangla in Udalguri district under the banner of AASU.
“Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and their puppets Sarbananda (Sonowal) and Himanta (Biswa Sarma) are planning to snatch our food, but we will not tolerate that. Assam has to be for Assamese always. A conspiracy is being hatched to finish the identity, language and culture of the Assamese people,” AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said while addressing the huge crowd.
Popular singers Zubeen Garg and Manas Robin and theatre artiste Pabitra Rabha also participated in the protest.
“If we stay united, those opposing us will be defeated. There may be issues in some places but still, we are together. The government is in its last breath which is why it is trying to lure agitators to end the movement,” Rabha said.
The AJYCP organised a mammoth rally at Chaliha Nagar playground in Tinsukia, where thousands of protesters vowed to continue the agitation till the Act is repealed.
“People coming out in such huge numbers show that we are not scared. We are firm in our resolve to fight against the CAA. Despite suppression by the government through various means, the crowd is swelling every passing day,” AJYCP general secretary Palash Changmai said.
Protests were also held in Golaghat, Lakhimpur, Morigaon and Sivasagar.
Agitators also demanded the release of peasant leader Akhil Gogoi, who was arrested during the stir.
However, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court remanded Gogoi, who had been arrested by the agency, to judicial custody for 14 days. Gogoi was arrested by the NIA from Jorhat, December 12 when large scale protests against the CAA rocked Assam.
Earlier in the day the NIA searched the residence of Gogoi, who is also an RTI activist, at Nizarapara area here and seized several documents and a laptop computer, officials said.
PTI