The 16-party United Opposition Forum in Assam on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu to “direct” the Centre to “desist” from implementing the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state.
The memorandum, submitted by the top brass of the 16 parties through Assam governor Gulab Chand Kataria at the Raj Bhavan here, also appealed for repealing the “unconstitutional and anti-national” legislation, adding that the Opposition parties and the people of the state will have “no” alternative but to go mass democratic movement to “compel” the Centre to repeal the act.
The joint memorandum is another sign of the Opposition closing ranks to take on the ruling BJP alliance in the upcoming polls and the CAA becoming a key poll plank for the Opposition as it was in the 2021 Assembly polls.
Through the three-page memorandum, the United Opposition Forum also recalled the opposition to the CAA from the day the act was introduced in Parliament.
“Unfortunately, the ruling BJP taking advantage of its majority in both Houses of Parliament passed the bill (CAB) ignoring the sentiment of the people of Assam,” the memorandum stated, adding that the Union home minister Amit Shah recently declared that “the CAA is going to be implemented in Assam before the upcoming Lok Sabha
elections.”
Media reports on Tuesday about the MHA notifying the rules for implementation of the CAA before the model code of conduct for the upcoming general elections comes into force also galvanised the Opposition forum.
The CAA is a central law applicable across the country except areas exempted
from its purview like areas protected under the Sixth Schedule.
The anti-CAA brigade in Assam sees the legislation as unconstitutional and a threat to Assamese identity, culture and language. CAA’s implementation, they assert, will open the floodgates for illegal immigrants, especially from neighbouring Bangladesh, putting the future of the indigenous communities at risk.
The sentiment was also articulated in 16-party memorandum to Murmu.