In protests across Assam, AASU burns copies of citizenship bill .... AASU activists showed black flags to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his vehicle passed in front of their office

AASU activists wave black flags at Modi in Guwahati on Friday. Picture by UB Photos

Abdul Gani, TT,  Guwahati, 9 February 2019: The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) protested across the state on Friday, burning dummy copies of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, demanding that it should be scrapped.

In Guwahati and the district headquarters, AASU activists shouted anti-BJP slogans. In Duliajan too, AASU protesters shouted slogans like “BJP-RSS go back”, “Scrap citizenship (amendment) bill in Assam”.

Later, in the evening, AASU activists raised black flags and shouted slogans as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vehicle passed in front of the AASU office in Guwahati on way to Raj Bhavan. Hundreds of security personnel had been deployed in front of the AASU office anticipating protest demonstrations.

The AASU and 30 other organisations will also raise black flags and burn effigies of Modi on Saturday during the Prime Minister’s visit to three northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Tripura. Modi is scheduled to start his tour from the morning.

AASU chief adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharjya said, “After passing the bill in the Lok Sabha, the PM is visiting the state for the first time. So, we expressed our anger. We, the people of Assam and Northeast, don’t support the bill which is against us. We will not accept anything which is against our people. This is going to be a strong message to the Prime Minister that we are not accepting it. We burnt dummy copies of the bill across the state. Our agitation will continue against the bill and the fascist attitude of the government.”

The BJP workers also thronged the area, shouting pro-government and pro-BJP slogans.

The Doomdooma unit of Veer Lachit Sena (VLS) staged a four-hour sit-in from 9am against the bill in front of Doomdooma revenue circle office at Rupai Siding in Tinsukia district of Upper Assam on Friday. It submitted a letter to the Prime Minister through Tinsukia deputy commissioner Oinam Saran Kumar Singh to scrap the bill.

VLS central committee vice-president Hemanta Bora told The Telegraph, “The bill is against jati, mati and bheti (community, land and hearth) and the indigenous population of Assam. Our natural resources are also going to be endangered by this bill. So, the government must withdraw it.”

The AGP, which was an ally of the BJP in Dispur a few weeks ago, also took out a torch rally against the bill.

Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar Ojha in Doomdooma and Pradip Kumar Neog in Duliajan