AASU Beats War Drums to Challenge Government on 'CAA'

By: Rana Pratap Saikia

Reiterating their demand of scrapping of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, members of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), along with the artiste fraternity of the State came together in a protest under the moniker 'rana hingha' (or blowing of war horn).

In an exhibition of the Vaishnavite tradition upon which the saint-reformer Srimanta Sankardev built Assamese society, the people across the state poured out onto the streets to express their resentment against the 'CAA'.

This was the latest in the AASU's series of protests against the controversial 'CAA' that are being held in every nook and cranny of the region.

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In Guwahati, where the protest was held at Guwahati club, the protest was joined by Assamese singer and youth icon Zubeen Garg, AASU leaders Samujjal Bhattacharya and Dipanka Nath, and several noted artistes and intellectuals.

"The determination of the people of Assam to defeat the CAA that seeks to give citizenship to Bangladeshis, violates the Assam Accord, is anti-indigenous, anti-Northeast is the foundation of this movement", said AASU's chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya, to raucous applause.

[caption id="attachment_49894" align="alignnone" width="660"] A protest in Tezpir[/caption]

The AASU leader also lambasted the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal's accusations that the Congress party is behind the protests, and claimed that the leaders defected from the Congress now form the backbone of the ruling BJP party.

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In Tinsukia, the local AASU chapter joined hands with the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP), another key-player in the anti-CAA struggle, to stage the 'Rana Xinga', as several hundreds turned up at the protest. The Tinsukia protest was also joined by the beloved Assamese actor, Nayan Nirban, one among many artists opposing the CAA.

Similarly, in Tezpur, the headquarters of Sonitpur district, locals organized a similar protest with many taking to the streets to protest against the current regime's policies in the cultural nerve-centre of the State.

Over in Margherita, a massive protest was held in the Dihing-Patkai wildlife sanctuary, where senior journalists Manjit Mahanta and Ajit Kumar Bhuyan and other activists delivered battle cries of the impending revolution.

Across the state, people opposed to the CAA congregated at chosen locales to stage demonstrations beating traditional Assam instruments such as Bortaal, Taal, Khol, Bahi, Shankh, Horn, etc.

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