The slogan ‘Scrap the CAA or arrest us’ rends the air in Guwahati
Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The slogan – Hoi CAA baatil korok nohole amaak greftaar korok (Scrap the CAA or arrest us) – rent the air in Guwahati on Monday. The AASU (All Assam Students’ Union) satyagrahis who went in a procession in two’s from Latasil playground to the Kamrup (M) DC office via Latasil Police Station, Session Court, Cotton University and Meghdoot Bhavan rocked the city. The satyagraha was called by the AASU and 30 other ethnic organizations of the State.
The police detained the protestors on the ground that they were protesting in an illegal way by not taking permission from the district administration. Over thousands of protestors, including Samujjal Bhattacharya and Lurinjyoti Gogoi, were detained and kept in a temporary jail at Dighalipukhuripar. However, the protestors were released after half an hour.
Addressing the satyagrahis earlier, AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said, “Our appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is – if he really has any goodwill to the people of Assam and the Northeast, he should prove it by canceling the CAA. Modi’s remark on the attire of the protestors in Assam is surprising.”
Bhattacharya further said, “The government can detain as many of our protestors. We’ll fill their temporary jails today, tomorrow and the day after. Tomorrow we’ll double our strength. Our demand is — scrap the CAA or arrest us.”
Commenting on the AGP’s move on the CAA, Bhattacharya said that the regional party going to file a case in the Supreme Court against the CAA is nothing but a sick joke in politics. “They’ve already betrayed the people of Assam by voting for the CAA,” he said.
AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, “Now the protest is not within Assam and other States in the region only. It has been a countrywide protest and beyond, including the UNO and every other independent agency. The entire world is opposing the CAA, because everyone knows the basic truth that providing citizenship just for the sake of votes and power violating the constitution is not acceptable. It can never be a democratic mentality. It’s a fascist mentality.”
Writer Mayur Bora said, “A peep into the history makes us know that oppressive policies don’t last long. Had oppressive policies been long-lasting, India would’ve been under British imperialists even now. They can never stop a peaceful and democratic protest where public emotions and logic are intertwined.”
Thousands of people spontaneously joined the Satyagraha on its first day to oppose the CAA. People from every walk of life, including artists, students, lawyers, doctors and others took part in the Satyagraha against the CAA.