In the chill of a Monday morning in Upper Assam, Vrindavan Bezbarua, 84, walks slowly with the help of a stick towards an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest venue with a ray of hope.

Sporting a dhoti-kurta-mirjai with a turban, and a gamosa around his neck, Bezbarua stood firm and looked forward to the thousands of people who were applauding an anti-CAA speech.

“I was 43 when the Assam Movement started. We took part in processions holding the hands of our children. We were assured of an infiltration-free Assam. We thought that our children would be able to live in such a state where there will be no Bangladeshi intruders. But now after 34 years we are protesting once again. This time we are holding the hands of those children who have grown up and are struggling on the same issue — illegal foreigners,” he told The Telegraph .

The Assam Movement was a popular uprising against illegal immigrants in Assam. The movement, led by All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP), developed a programme of protests and demonstration to compel the Centre to identify and expel illegal (mostly Bangladeshi migrants) and protect and provide constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to the indigenous Assamese people.

The unrest officially ended on August 15, 1985, following the Assam Accord.

Bezbarua said, “Had the government worked sincerely and firmly according to the Assam Accord, such painful situations would not have arisen again. Several people died during the CAA protests too. The people are worried and are out on the streets. And even now it is not certain when and how this will come to an end.”

Five persons died of suspected police firing in anti-CAA protests in Assam that erupted after Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill on December 9. “In these years, having witnessed peace, the state was recovering from the path of violence, the people had accepted the Assam Accord,” he said.

“Prime minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal should understand the sentiments of indigenous people of Assam,” he added. Sonowal also asked the people of the state to repose faith in him.

“All these years we tried to work with total transparency and in a fair way. No one complained. Then why now?” he said at a peace rally at Sualkuchi in Kamrup district.

Asked how they saw the future of Assam, Mohan Goswami, 73, another participant at the rally, said, “The Assamese community is wise, kind and brave. To see these young pioneers of Assam, I can say Assam, its communities, language and cultural heritage, everything is in very safe hands. Illegal immigrants must be deported. The people of Assam and its young leaders will together bring a new day after this mournful night.”