Anti CAA protests in Assam: AASU, 30 other organisations raise black flags

CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says CAA is going to be a fiasco in the state as not many people would apply for citizenship under the act.

Guwahati: Members of All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and 30 other organisations continued their protest against the CAA by raising black flags in many parts while police and the government tried to prevent escalation of the situation. 

"No CAA," read the black flags raised by the anti-CAA agitators while police were seen acting tough against the agitators. Several protesters were detained by police in Sivasagar in eastern Assam, where anti-CAA agitation is believed to be stronger than in other districts. Many were seen raising slogans against the CAA and the BJP-led government. 

Sivasagar MLA and anti-CAA leader, Akhil Gogoi said the agitation against the CAA would continue till it was rolled back. Gogoi, who was arrested for allegedly inciting anti-CAA agitators in 2019 and was jailed for months, continued to target CM Himanta Biswa Sarma alleging his failure to convince the Centre to exempt Assam from the CAA's preview.

"Sarma has failed to protect the Assamese people and their future from the threat posed by the CAA," Gogoi told reporters.

CAA to be a fiasco

Claiming that the protest against the CAA was not that strong, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati that the CAA is likely to be a fiasco in Assam as not many people would apply for citizenship under the CAA. "Only those whose names were left out of the NRC may only apply. No other person will be able to apply. But some leaders who are against the CAA are spreading false information that lakhs of people will get citizenship. We may have to open camps and ask those left out of the NRC and whose biometrics were locked, to apply for citizenship under the CAA," Sarma said. 

More than 19.06 lakh people were left out of the "final draft" of the NRC released in August 2019. Nearly half of them are believed to be Hindus and are eligible to apply for citizenship under the CAA. But many such persons say they must be given the chance to clear their names by filing an appeal in the Foreigner Tribunals (as per norms of the NRC process) instead of pushing them to declare themselves as Bangladeshis and apply for citizenship through the CAA.