AJYCP Erupts in Statewide Protests Over CAA, Clashes With Police Across Assam

Tinsukia: The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) staged massive joint protests on Friday, strongly opposing the Assam government’s directive to withdraw foreigners’ prosecution cases against non-Muslim minorities covered under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Led by its Tinsukia district committee, AJYCP members marched from their office to the local police station, condemning the decision and demanding an immediate rollback. The protest turned tense as police attempted to restrain the crowd. Similar demonstrations erupted in Sivasagar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Bajali, Dhemaji, and other districts, where police crackdowns resulted in scuffles, injuries, and arrests.

At the heart of the controversy is a recent order by the Assam government asking district commissioners and police officials to withdraw prosecution cases against Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis who entered Assam before December 31, 2014. This move, aligned with the CAA, was strongly denounced by AJYCP, which claimed it undermines the Assam Accord of 1985 that fixed 1971 as the cut-off year for citizenship.

AJYCP leaders, including President Palash Changmai and General Secretary Bijan Bayen, accused the BJP-led government of acting unconstitutionally and warned that the directive could lead to the granting of citizenship to nearly 70,000 illegal immigrants, threatening the linguistic and cultural identity of indigenous Assamese people.

Protesters shouted slogans like “Stop CAA,” “Implement Assam Accord,” and “Down with Himanta Biswa Sarma,” expressing anger over what they termed a betrayal of Assamese interests. The youth body also condemned the use of force by police and accused the government of trying to suppress democratic dissent.

The AJYCP warned that Assam risks becoming a Bengali-majority state if the directive is not revoked. It vowed to intensify its agitation and legal battle against CAA, calling on all democratic and indigenous groups to unite against what they described as an “anti-Assamese and unconstitutional” agenda.