Intensifying its agitation against the amended Citizenship Act, the All Assam Students’ Union on Sunday said a “massive protest” will be organised if Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes to inaugurate the ‘Khelo India’ games on January 10 in the State capital.
Addressing a press conference, AASU leadership said the organisation is keeping a “close watch” on the upcoming T20 match between India and Sri Lanka on January 5 in Guwahati and the ‘Khelo India’ games scheduled from January 10 to 22, 2020.
“After the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was passed, the Prime Minister is likely to visit Assam for the first time. If he visits for the ‘Khelo India’, there will be a massive protest,” AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath said.
He said details will be shared in the coming days after getting confirmation of Mr. Modi’s visit to Guwahati.
“Mr. Modi and the BJP are planning to destroy Assam and we will not sit idle. The struggle against the CAA will be a long one. We are fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court and we have full faith in it. Democratic protests will go on simultaneously,” Mr. Nath said.
Demanding immediate repeal of the contentious Citizenship Act, AASU chief adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya said the organisation will observe all the actions of the government to deviate peoples’ attention from the movement.
“There are two games happening in Guwahati in the coming days. The first one is the cricket match on January 5 and then ‘Khelo India’ We are keeping a close watch on both,” he added.
When asked repeatedly what he meant by “close watch”, Mr. Bhattacharya said, “We will inform in due course of time”.
The student leader also asked Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to disclose the source of his statement that only a “negligible” number of illegal Hindu Bangladeshis will benefit by the CAA in the State.
On December 14, Mr. Sonowal had said that people benefitting by the amended Citizenship Act will be “very negligible” in number and the exact number of people will be disclosed at an appropriate time.
Different data
AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi questioned Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for quoting different figures of illegal Hindu Bangladeshis residing in the State from the National Register of Citizens. “The government is giving misleading figures like four lakh, five lakh and 10 lakh. They are saying that they got this number from the NRC,” he said.
The AASU leadership announced a series of agitational programmes along with 30 other indigenous groups across the State till January 17 and appealed to people to join them in large numbers.
