Since the State government stands on the plank of Jaati, Maati aru Bheti, let it take a strong stand on the issue like some of its counterparts in the neighbouring States — Students’ body
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The AASU (All Assam Students’ Union) led a Statewide protest against the CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill) on Monday. The students’ body has warned the government not to enforce the controversial Bill in Assam, forcibly. The logic of the students’ body is clear and straight – the passage of the Bill will put an end to the supremacy or leading role of the indigenous people of the State and the leverage they enjoy in the State.
The AASU has been agitating against the CAB in the State and outside it. The BJP, on the other hand, has been quite transparent on the Bill when it spells out in clear terms that, if voted to power, it will bring the CAB in Parliament. However, despite the agitation by the AASU and the BJP’s open declaration of bringing the CAB in Parliament, the people of the State continue to vote the BJP to power in every election. What does it signify? Will the BJP listen to what the organizations opposing the CAB say so long as it gets the people’s mandate? Obscurity marks the issue.
Talking to The Sentinel on the issue, AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, “People voting the BJP to power doesn’t mean that they don’t oppose the CAB. The people of the State vote for the BJP for various reasons. The voters of the State don’t have a viable alternative to the BJP. None of the regional parties could prove to be a reliable alternative to the BJP. Apart from this, the poor people are beneficiaries of the government’s largesse. Just think of the State government providing rice at Re 1 per kg and freebies like giving Rs 6,000 to each farmer and Rs 5,000 to each tea estate labourer through various schemes. Rs 6,000 or Rs 5,000 is not going to bring any long-term change in the life of a farmer nor of a tea estate worker. However, such generosities are bound to lower productivity in the State in the long-run.”
Referring to the public awareness on the CAB, Gogoi said, “It is true that we’ve not been 100 per cent successful in making people aware of the consequences of the CAB at the grassroots level. We’ve taken the leading role to bring about awareness on the CAB and its would-be consequences. Isn’t it the responsibility of all stakeholders in society to make the masses aware of the CAB? Unlike UP and Bihar, the Hindu-Muslim divide was never felt in Assam. However, the CAB, if passed by the Parliament, will make it a reality in Assam.”
AASU adviser-in-chief Samujjal Bhattacharya said, “The BJP has the strength in the Parliament. By virtue of its number, it can’t enforce the CAB on us, forcibly. We can’t accept the CAB that seeks to give shelter to Bangladeshis – Hindus or Muslims.”
AASU president Dipanko Kumar Nath said, “We’ve shouldered the burden of infiltrators prior to 1971. We, however, cannot shoulder the burden of more foreigners who came to Assam after 1971, be they Hindus or Muslims. Since the State government stands on the plank of Jaati, Maati aru Bheti, let it take a strong stand on the issue like some of its counterparts in the neighbouring States.”