Don’t give political tone to AICC meeting over CAB: AASU to Sarbananda Sonowal

We’re answerable to people of Assam and the indigenous masses of the State, says Lurin

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on Thursday came down heavily on Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over his criticism of AASU leaders for meeting the president of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Rahul Gandhi in Delhi recently.

Talking to The Sentinel, AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, “Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is trying to sieve out political meaning from the meeting. AASU is not subservient to any political party. And, the CM has not done a good thing by criticizing us over the issue. Our organization never toed the line of any political party, and we’ll never do so in the future.”

The AASU leader further stated, “We are answerable to the people of Assam and the indigenous masses of the State!”

Dwelling on the policy of the apex students’ body of Assam, Gogoi pointed out, “We’ll definitely push for constituting a strong political lobby for the benefit and security of the Assamese community as a whole.”

Clarifying on the meeting between the AASU and the AICC, Gogoi said, “We met the Congress president to ensure that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2019 is not passed in the Rajya Sabha. The prime objective of the meeting was to make the Congress vote against the Bill in the Upper House of the Parliament. We’ve been meeting not only the Congress but all political parties in this regard to form a strong lobby. Such meetings will continue till the Centre scraps CAB.”

The AASU general secretary further alluded to Sonowal by saying, “How can Sarbananda Sonowal forget that his roots are in AASU? It’s rather strange that he is now trying to give citizenship to Bangladeshis who came to Assam after 1971! But when he was in AASU, he did voice his concern against the Bangladeshis in Assam.”

Gogoi further said, “Well, the masses have now seen Sonowal’s double standards. He is taking a U-turn simply to hold on to the reins of power.”

Sharply crititicising the BJP, Gogoi said, “Some BJP leaders and activists are trampling the flag of AASU despite the fact that AASU was Sonowal’s mother. He’s now mum over this disgrace brought on his own mother by members of his party.”

The AASU leader further said, “Can Sonowal claim that AASU has no contribution in the rise of his political career as an MLA, MP, Union minister and now Chief Minister?”

Also read: Withdraw Citizenship (Amendment) Bill: AASU