New Delhi: All Assam Students Union (AASU) on Tuesday reiterated that it will not support any political party in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, instead, it will intensify its anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest across Assam and in the Northeast. Speaking to ETV Bharat in New Delhi, AASU chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya said, “Along with North East Student Organisation (NESO), we will continue our protest against CAA. At any cost, we are not going to allow CAA to be implemented in Assam and Northeast.”
When asked whether AASU will support Congress following the fact that the opposition party is also demanding the withdrawal of CAA, Bhattacharya said, “We welcome whoever raises their protest against CAA. But, we will not support any political party. We are fighting to protect the identity of the indigenous people of Assam.”
Notably, NESO on Monday filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court (SC) challenging CAA and halting its implementation process. Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Bora said that the 16-Party United Opposition Forum-Assam is united to oppose the implementation of CAA. “People of Assam won’t accept CAA. Similarly, our stand is also clear. We won’t accept CAA,” said Bora.
Bora said that his party would go to the people highlighting their stand against CAA. “All the opposition allies, during their election campaign, will highlight CAA and how the BJP government both at the Centre and State is trying to implement the contentious Act,” said Bora. However, accusing the opposition parties, mainly the Congress of using CAA as propaganda in the forthcoming elections, the BJP on the other hand claimed that it (anti-CAA agitation) will not impact its political prospects.
“CAA is neither anti-people nor will anybody lose their citizenship due to the Act. In fact, it will give citizenship to those victims of religious persecution coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan,” said BJP’s Guwahati Lok Sabha MP Queen Oja. She added that the opposition parties are trying to get political benefits by wrongly highlighting CAA.
Significantly, the BJP and its allies overcame the damage of the anti-CAA agitation to register a decisive victory in the 2021 elections in Assam. The CAA was passed by Parliament in 2019. Recently, the Home Ministry has notified the CAA rules to get it implemented across India.
CAA makes it easier for migrants belonging to six non-Muslim religions, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians persecuted from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan on or before December 31, 2014, to apply for Indian citizenship. Both the ruling BJP and opposition allies have been trying to get as many Lok Sabha seats from a total of 14 in Assam.
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