Protest march against Citizenship (Amendment) Act

Protest against the amended Citizenship Act continued across Assam on Sunday with thousands of people hitting the streets in the state capital in a 15-km long march originating from Bhupen Hazarika's memorial.

Called by the artiste community and supported by All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP), the march was joined by anti-CAA leaders like Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya, Lurinjyoti Gogoi and popular singer Zubeen Garg.

"The government is trying to dominate us by various means, but we will not bow down until this Act is repealed. We are thankful to the people of the state for coming out in such large numbers in each rally," said Gogoi, the general secretary of AASU.

Garg said the government is trying to "divide" the artiste community by offering various grants, but this will not help in controlling the movement and people will continue to oppose the Act.

The protest march passed through the arterial Assam Trunk Road and Mahatma Gandhi Road, creating long traffic jams for people coming from the airport to the city.

Protest against the contentious law continued at other places across the state on Sunday.

A large number of Congress supporters joined the 'Padyatra' at Chaygaon under the leadership of former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

" ... visited the residence of Dipanjal Das who lost his life in police firing during Anti #CAA protest to offer my sincere condolences to his family members," Gogoi tweeted after paying homage at the youth's residence in Chaygaon.

"BJP is trying to rule the country with an ideology akin to Jinnahs two-nation theory, while Jinnah was for Muslims & BJP are for Hindus. CAA was aimed at giving citizenship to the Hindus but the Hindus of India have stood against it to guard the secular character of the country," Gogoi tweeted.