People will hit streets if contentious law imposed: Akhil Gogoi

The anti-CAA protests in Assam 'lost' its sting once the MLA was arrested

Akhil Gogoi.: File photo

Umanand Jaiswal   |   TT  |   Guwahati   |   09.05.22 : Assam MLA and activist Akhil Gogoi, who spent nearly 19 months in jail for his alleged role in the violent anti-CAA protests in 2019, said on Sunday that the people of the state will once again hit the streets if the contentious law was imposed on the state.

The Raijor Dal president, who described the first year of the BJP-led coalition government under chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma as a “year of total despair”,  said Assam had “never” accepted the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and would “never” accept the law in the “future” as well.

“This is final. We are a state already hit by influx. No Assamese would now want new people dumped here in the name of religion. We are making it very clear that whether it is Amit Shah or the Central government or Narendra Modi, if they impose the CAA again on Assam, the entire state will once again hit the streets  and the end result will be the unseating of the BJP government,” the independent MLA said in Guwahati.

Gogoi, who was arrested for his alleged role in the violent anti-CAA protests on December 12, 2019 and released after nearly 19 months after being absolved of all charges, was reacting to recent assurance of Union home minister Amit Shah at a rally in Siliguri that the CAA would be implemented once the Covid-19 pandemic ends.

The anti-CAA protests in Assam “lost” its sting once Gogoi was arrested. He won the 2021 Assembly polls from judicial custody.

Besides Gogoi, the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) has also opposed the imposition of CAA in the region which has always been very sensitive about issues related to identity, culture and language.

The CAA was passed by the Parliament on December 11, 2019 with the objective of according Indian citizenship to members of the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian communities who entered India to escape persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The law, which was to come into effect from January 10, 2020, has not yet come into force as its rules have not yet been framed. The Union home ministry has sought and received five extensions till now. The ongoing extension will end on October 9.

Gogoi reiterated his opposition to CAA hours before Amit Shah’s three-day visit to the state on Sunday night to attend a host of official engagements connected with the first anniversary of the Sarma-led state government on May 10.

Shah will be visiting the Indo-Bangladesh border in Mancachar and inaugurating a super-speciality hospital in Guwahati on Monday. He will also be giving away the President’s Colour award to the state police for its exemplary service in Guwahati on Tuesday.

The state government has made elaborate plans to mark its first anniversary, vowing to “take Assam among the top 5 states in our country”.

Akhil Gogoi, however, asserted the year gone by was one of “total despair for Assam and its people”.

According to him, the reasons for the “total despair” included:

⚫ People of the state and the economy became poor

⚫ Spiralling price rise, a “gift” of the present regime

⚫ Politics of polarisation

⚫ Complete surrender of the state government before the Centre

⚫ The chief minister becoming the "all in all" of the government.

⚫ Government taking 100 per cent control of the traditional and social media

⚫ The successful marketing of failure as success

⚫ The ever-rising loan burden on the state government

Akhil Gogoi also said the state government was trying to create a police state while asserting that neither the government nor the Ulfa (I) had the right to kill anyone. He also sought a NIA probe into allegation that the Assam Police had tried to infiltrate the Ulfa (I).

BJP-led ruling alliance won the state Assembly polls for the second straight term in 2021.