Assamese people in Maha protest CAA, say it will wreak havoc

Members of the Assamese community staged a protest here on Wednesday against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, saying the new law endangers the culture of Assam and has been brought without considering sentiments of people of the north-eastern state.

The new law will "wreak havoc", create misunderstandings among people, and question the sole existence of the original Assamese culture, they said.

The new legislation will also lead to "erosion of ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity" of the Assamese people, one of the protesters said.

Over 200 members of the Assamese community, mostly students and working professionals from the north-eastern state, gathered outside the Sambhaji Garden on J M Road here and staged a peaceful protest against the CAA.

The protest was organised by LUIT - an Assamese Society in Pune.

Bidyut Saikia, one of the protesters, said, "We oppose this new law and the government has enacted it without considering sentiments of the people and the harmony of the multi-communal state of Assam," he said.

"This Act directly endangers the culture of Assam as the inclusion of immigrants under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will not only wreak havoc and create misunderstanding among people, but also question the sole existence of the original culture of Assamese people, who are already in minority in their own state," Saikia claimed.

The new legislation will lead to erosion of ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity of the indigenous Assamese people, he said.

People from various communities/religions, such as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and others, who have been living along with members of the Assamese community in peace and harmony have adopted the Assamese culture in due course of time and vice-versa.

"The inclusion of immigrants, who have a mere or in fact no idea about our culture and heritage, is a direct threat to our identity and our peaceful balance in social topography," said Saikia, who works at a private firm in Pune.

He said their protest was not on any religious lines.

"We are against illegal immigrants and we do not want anybody, be it Muslims or Hindus, from Bangladesh," he said.

Saikia said there was a big agitation against Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam between 1979 and 1985.

"When the Assam Accord was signed, it was decided that Bangladeshis who came to the state before 1971 will only be allowed here and it was decided that after 1971, no one should be allowed," he pointed out.

"But during the Congress regime, illegal immigrants from Bangladesh kept coming and now it has become such a big issue that Assam's indigenous people are in minority in 14 districts," Saikia claimed.

He also said that in 2014, when the BJP came to power, it promised that all Bangladeshi immigrants will be driven out of the state.

"But it has been five years and not a single Bangladeshi has been driven out," he said.

"Now with the help of CAA, there are attempts to provide citizenship to Bangladeshi Hindus, who are staying here illegally," he said.

Tonmoy Goswami, another protester from the community, said the amended Citizenship Act also nullifies the Assam Agitation (1979-85), an honorary movement for Assam in which 855 people sacrificed their lives in the hope of an infiltration-free state.