This Upper Assam town lost a part of its heritage — and sleep — in the winter of 2019 when frenzied anti-CAA protesters vandalised every government establishment in sight.

The unprecedented arson in Chabua town, around 470km east of Guwahati, remains a nightmare for its 7,000-plus residents.

A British Raj-era abandoned post office off National Highway 37 is a grim reminder of the mob fury unleashed on December 11 and 12, 2019, leaving unprepared locals and the administration shaken to the core.

The railway station, another Raj-era establishment, the then United Bank of India branch, offices of the circle officer, the town committee, BSNL, ASTC and the panchayat were targetted and damaged. Also destroyed was the residence of the local BJP MLA, Binod Hazarika. The post office, railway station, circle office and the bank were set on fire.

Although there is regret and remorse for the arson that followed the passage of the citizenship law in Parliament on December 11, 2019, the lurking fear of a repeat weigh heavily on the minds of residents as the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act takes centre-stage again in the run-up to the Assembly polls to be held on March 27, April 1 and 6.

The opposition to the law played itself out again on Saturday when a group of AASU activists from Chabua staged a protest near NH37. They shouted anti-CAA slogans when a joint AGP-BJP campaign rally, led by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, passed by the protest site. Sonowal’s ancestral home is about 10km from the town.

Security personnel stood as a wall between the protesters and the chief minister-led rally. No harm was done, but there was no missing the tension in the air.

Sentiments across generations continue to remain strong against the CAA, which makes it easier for non-Muslims who entered India till 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to acquire Indian citizenship.

Both Pranabjyoti Dutta, the 29-year-old general secretary of AASU’s Chabua unit, and Haranath Dowerah, 71, retired headmaster of Assam Vidyapith, shared similar sentiments: What happened should not have happened and though life has returned to normal, the opposition to the CAA remains strong and will continue till the law is scrapped.

“We will continue with our democratic and peaceful protests to protect the culture, language and identity of Assam from the ill-effects of the CAA. Our protests have nothing to do with the upcoming elections. The CAA has to go, irrespective of the poll results,” Dutta told this newspaper.

The anti-CAA brigade is firm on the March 24, 1971, cut-off date as fixed in the 1985 Assam Accord for detection and deportation of illegal migrants.

Dowerah said sentiments against the CAA were more pronounced in rural areas. And still is.

“The heart aches over the destruction that rocked Chabua. We lost a part of our British era heritage — the railway station and the post office — but we also need to analyse why this happened. The CAA remains an emotive issue here. A flare-up cannot be ruled out once the CAA rules are implemented,” Dowerah said.

Locals with whom this correspondent interacted said no one knew who the rioters were, except that they were from adjoining areas.

Recalling the ordeal, one of them said they were cooped up inside their homes because the mob had asked the few who ventured out to join them.

“It was a nightmare. There was no security. Those living close to NH37 were the most vulnerable, but luckily we were not targetted. There was tension for about a month. We still can’t sleep thinking about what happened. We had to fend for ourselves

even though Chabua is well-protected from the security point of view. Both the army and the air force set-ups are located nearby,” one of them said.

The unrest has impacted local politics. The sitting BJP MLA, Hazarika, has been shifted to the adjoining Lahowal constituency because of the still-strong anti-CAA emotions. Locals say neither Chabua nor the BJP can afford another round of unrest.

The Opposition Congress-led 10-party alliance and the newly floated regional parties — Raijor Dal and Assam Jatiya Parishad born out of the anti-CAA movement — have made the “unconstitutional and anti-Assam” law their key poll plank.

Senior BJP leaders have shied away from referring to the CAA till now, focussing instead on the development plank.

Elections will come and go, the locals said. But for a few like Abdul Rahim, gardener of the abandoned post office, life has changed. Like other staffers, he has to travel 10km to the Dikom post office from where the Chabua post office is functioning.

Rahim shows us around, pointing to the trail of destruction, to the two words — “No CAA” — emblazoned in black on the front wall and on a signage, and then to the unkempt, small post office garden he used to maintain.

“Everything is gone. The garden is gone,” Rahim said — like most locals, longing and lamenting for a Chabua untouched by the mayhem.