Assam Erupts In Protests Over CAA, Opposition Parties Join Demonstrations; Effigies Of PM Modi, Home Minister Shah Get Burnt

Protests erupted across Assam on Tuesday (12 March) against the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), with effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and copies of the law being burnt.

The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) burned effigies of the prime minister and the home minister in Lakhimpur, while the Congress also torched copies of the law in different parts of the district to protest against the CAA as per a report by The New Indian Express.

Congress workers, led by Leader of the Opposition in the Assam assembly Debabrata Saikia, staged a protest in front of its state headquarters Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati and burnt copies of the Act.

The CPI(M) also held demonstrations against the Act in Guwahati and Kamrup's Rangia town, while students from various colleges organized protests outside their institutions in the city.

In Sivasagar district, activists of Raijor Dal, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, Chatra Mukti Parishad, and MLA Akhil Gogoi protested against the law and raised slogans against the Centre.

Reports of burning copies of the CAA by the Congress and the AJYCP have also come in from Barpeta and Nalbari respectively.

The 12-hour 'Sarbatamak Hartal', called by the 16-party United Opposition Forum Assam (UOFA), did not evoke much response.

Shops and business establishments remained closed in a few districts such as Sivasagar, Golaghat, Nagaon, and Kamrup.

Assam Police have issued notices to opposition parties, asking them to withdraw the hartal over the implementation of the CAA, and warned of "legal action" if they fail to comply, officials said on Tuesday.

Director General of Police GP Singh said, "Notices were served to ensure that there is no damage to public property and risk to the life of the people through any forceful agitation in the state."

Critics of the notices, including Congress leader Debabrata Saikia, have called them 'shameful' and accused the state police of acting at the behest of the BJP government.

"We will continue to protest against the implementation of the Act peacefully and democratically," Saikia said.

In Sonitpur, the district administration has imposed Section 144 of CrPC and prohibited holding meetings, demonstrations, processions, and sloganeering in public places to prevent any untoward incident.

Security has been tightened across the state with additional deployment of police personnel, including commandos, in sensitive areas. All police stations in the state have been put on alert.

Patrolling has been intensified, and check-posts have been set up on arterial roads in almost all the cities and towns of the state where protests were held over the issue in 2019.

All Assam Students' Union and 30 non-political indigenous organizations will also take out torchlight processions in the evening and launch a satyagraha from Wednesday.

An AASU delegation left for New Delhi on Tuesday to pursue the petition against the Act in the Supreme Court. The leaders will return for the procession in the evening, said the student organisation's general secretary Sankar Jyoti Baruah.