Stirred by the legacy of Assamese woman warrior Mula Gabhoru who fought against the Mughals to keep them at bay in the 16th century, hundreds of women hit the city streets on Sunday to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Fearing implementation of the CAA will “adversely impact” the future of Assam, the women demonstrators, inclu-ding Assamese actress Barsha Rani Bishaya and several others, marched from Latasil playground to Chandmari in the heart of the city.

During the protest, the women took an oath to continue opposing the Act and fight for its withdrawal.

Bishaya, who has been vocal against the CAA, said: “Women in large numbers across the state are participating in the anti-CAA rallies. Therefore, we, too, planned an all-women protest rally in the city. Today’s rally has no organiser, but women from all spheres of life joined the protest march. If the women from today do not take any action, then the children of tomorrow will ask why did not we do anything when we had time.”

Of late, Bishaya has been spotted in several anti-CAA rallies and advocating a new political alternative in the state to “dethrone” the BJP from power. She was allegedly trolled online by pro-CAA supporters. On Saturday, she urged women to register their protest and join the rally thro-ugh an online video message.

Fashion designer Garima Garg Saikia said: “It seems the government has gone mad. This government is so blind that it overlooks public anger. We assume that the movement against the CAA will be longer than we anticipated and that is why we have taken an oath to fight till its withdrawal.”

Saikia supported the idea of a political alternative in the state, but she denied to have joined politics. She said neither she nor her husband Zubeen Garg would be part of any political party.

For Arunima Chang-kakoti, a working woman of the city, participating in Sunday’s rally was important.

“I had to join this rally as women in the state need to come out in large numbers for the sake of the state’s people and their rights. History has proved that women have been at the forefront of all revolutions and in Assam too a woman like Mula Gabhoru restricted the invaders. Today, Assam needs hundreds of Mula Gabhorus. All women should unite and lead this movement,” she said. In the 16th century, Gabhoru, accompanied by wives of other generals, fought for five years till she was killed in 1532.

Her sacrifice reignited a fresh spirit among the Assamese soldiers who later defeated the Mughals.

The new-age rhetoric on Gabhoru’s resistance explains Assam’s oldest agony against illegal immigrants who are threat to the existence of the Assamese community, their language and culture.

Earlier, noted filmmaker Jahnu Barua too compared women participating in protests against the CAA to Gabhoru.