Hymns from the Bhagvad Gita, Quran, Bible, Tripitaka, Namghosa and Guru Granth Sahib were chanted together as thousands bowed their heads in memory of panch swahid (five martyrs) — Sam Stefford, Ishwar Nayak, Abdul Alim, Dipanjal Das and Bijendra Panging — who died during the agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act across Assam last month.
On Sunday, memorial meetings were organised in memory of the departed souls at Dhola, Talap, Kakopathar, Dirak, Pengaree, Margherita, Digboi, Makum, Tinsukia town, Panitola, Bordubi, Barekuri, Tengrai and Doomdooma by the district unit of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP).
Floral tributes were paid, earthen lamps lit and special prayers organised by people from various religious and cultural backgrounds.
After paying homage to the “martyrs”, a pledge to continue the movement, seeking the Act’s repeal, was taken by the AJYCP activists and locals.
Surojit Moran, the AJYCP’s Tinsukia unit president said, “The young and innocent people hit the streets to protest against the CAA but they never returned home owing to the suppressive policy of the government. Their souls will not rest in peace till the Act is withdrawn. We took a pledge before their pictures to fight hard till the anti-Assam and unconstitutional law is scrapped.”
He added: “The martyrs fought to safeguard the secular nature of the Constitution. The state and the country will never forget the panch swahid and their contribution. We will go ahead to fulfil their mission to protect the secular nature of the country and the Constitution. We want the Act to be scrapped at any cost.”
The government should pay compensation to the family members of the deceased, he added.
The All India Congress Committee on December 28 announced Rs 2 lakh each to the next kin of all deceased. Chaygaon legislator Rekibuddin Ahmed handed over an e-rickshaw to Dipanjal’s father, following Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s request.
A prayer meet in memory of the deceased was organised in Jorhat on Sunday.
Additional reporting by Devajit Baruah in Jorhat
