Protests against CAA and EIA draft continue amid pandemic in Udalguri

TANGLA: The Tangla unit of All Assam Students' Union (AASU), along with Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and other organizations, staged a human chain protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 draft at Tangla town in Udalguri district on Friday.

Members of the organizations, along with citizens, held placards and banners and raised slogans against the BJP government and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to register their protest against the citizenship act and EIA draft.

Addressing the gathering, AASU Tangla unit president Pranjal Deka said, "The sentiments of the people against the new citizenship act are still vibrant and alive in the minds of the people and the pandemic had just made these sentiments dormant." "The BJP-led State Government has been adopting anti-Assamese measures and the citizenship act and EIA 2020 draft are its glaring examples," he added.

He further said, "The EIA draft as released by the government is anti-people, anti-environment and the government must withdraw it, failing which we will intensify the protest." "The CAA is against the spirit of the 1985 Assam Accord. It is against the self-respect of the Assamese people. We will fight till our last breath to defeat it. The betrayal by the Centre and the Sarbananda Sonowal government will not be forgotten. People will give them a befitting reply in the forthcoming assembly polls," he added.

Udalguri chapter, AJYCP vice-president, Niloy Chaliha said that their agitation would not stop until both the CAA and EIA 2020 draft were scrapped. "The EIA, 2020 draft will badly impact Assam and we can't accept it. We will continue our agitation against CAA and EIA 2020 draft," he said.

A protester, Ritamani Barman said, "The people of the State will not accept the unconstitutional and anti-Assam citizenship Act at any cost as it is a threat to the Assamese language and culture. The people of Assam will continue their agitation until it is rolled back."

Also Watch: #NewsMakers: The Baghjan Saga