Asam Sahitya Sabha’s Tinsukia unit president said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should withdraw the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at the earliest to maintain national unity and integrity.
“The people of Assam are protesting against CAA peacefully and democratically with gamosa around their necks and singing patriotic Assamese songs. It shows that how much love, respect and affection they have for their language, culture and land. Taking a note of this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should solve the CAA issue by withdrawing it at the earliest to maintain national unity and integrity,” Arjun Barua, the Sabha’s Tinsukia president, told The Telegraph on Thursday.
“In Assam, the cut-off date to detect and deport illegal migrants is already determined by the Assam Accord as March 24, 1971. CAA violates the Accord by seeking to grant Indian Citizenship to certain illegal migrants who entered the country before December 31, 2014. This cannot be accepted as it is likely to bring many types of crises to the state and its people,” he added.
The Sabha had recently said that if the government was sincere in preserving and promoting Assamese, it could have implemented the Assam Official Language Act, 1960, which would cover the entire state. Besides, the cabinet has not yet implemented the language policy submitted jointly by the Sabha and others in 2019. Therefore, it has reason to doubt the government’s sincerity as an attempt to divert attention from the protests against CAA.
In Dibrugarh, about 72 people were arrested for indulging in violence and vandalism during the anti-CAA movement in Dibrugarh district of Upper Assam.
Police said they were arrested from various parts of the district on the basis of incriminating video evidence collected from CCTV cameras and mobile video clips. They were found to be involved in violence, vandalism, posting of objectionable messages on social media and destruction of public properties. “We have registered 80 cases and arrested 72 people so far for indulging in violence and vandalism. More are likely to be arrested,” a police official said.
Additional reporting by Avik Chakraborty in Dibrugarh
