The 16 party United Opposition Forum, Assam (UOFA) is led by the Congress
Guwahati:
Protests erupted across Assam with the Opposition parties slamming the Centre’s decision to implement the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), paving the way for granting citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The 16 party United Opposition Forum, Assam (UOFA), led by the Congress, has announced a state-wide shutdown today, despite Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s warning that political parties in the state that they could lose their registrations if found to be organising strikes and protests against the implementation of CAA.
Mr Sarma said that such protests would be considered a violation of a Gauhati High Court order dated March 19, 2023, which said that “bandhs are illegal and unconstitutional” and allowed the Assam government to recover the economic losses caused by protests or strikes from the organisations responsible for them.
UOFA also been issued a notice by the police over the state-wide shutdown.
The AASU which had spearheaded a six-year agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants in 1979, said it will fight the legislation in and outside court.
AASU said to travel to New Delhi to urge Centre to withdraw the CAA notification. AASU members and 30 indigenous non-political organisations burnt copies of the Act and organised protest rallies in different parts of the state, including Guwahati, Kamrup, Barpeta, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Dibrugarh, Golaghat and Tezpur.
“We will not accept the CAA at any cost as it will destroy the Assamese community. It will finish our language, literature, culture and identity,” the UOFA said.
Anti CAA-activist turned Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi said “This is BJP agenda ahead of lok sabha polls to divide people and win votes in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura.
Security has been tightened across the state with additional deployment of police personnel following the implementation of the Act.
All police stations in the state have been put on an alert while barricades have been set up in the major thoroughfares in almost all the towns which had witnessed widespread protests during the passage of the Act in December 2019.