Students Sound War Bugle Against CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill)

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Ron Hoongkar (the war bugle) against the CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill) sounded by Cottonians and students of other colleges and universities of the State grew shriller with noted intellectuals, artistes, journalists and conscious citizens getting into a huddle and lending their support to it.

Dibrugarh University Post Graduate Students’ Union (PGSU) general secretary Rahul Shetry said that the students of the State would never accept the CAB. “The people of Assam voted for the BJP as there was no alternative. However, that doesn’t mean that the people of the State have allowed the BJP government to sell Assam,” Rahul said.

Opposing the CAB, singer Zubeen Garg said that the State would not accept anyone entering Assam after 1971, regardless of his/her identity. “I don’t belong to any political party. The situation has enraged us. We’ll raise our voice for our motherland. If need be, we’ll opt for a vigorous protest,” he said.

Advocate Nekibur Zaman said that through the CAB the government is ‘actually going to kill the 855 martyrs of the Assam Agitation for the second time, and the people of Assam will never let it happen’.

Representing Handique Girls’ College, Kasturi Chutia said, “The government is foxing us that the CAB will safeguard the Assamese. However, we want to make it clear that we don’t need any outsiders to keep our identity intact. The Assamese can safeguard their identity by themselves.”

Through the Ron Hoongkar Cottonians and the entire students’ community warned all those supporting the CAB, and threatened the rerun of the Assam Agitation. The representatives of different colleges and universities and Cottonians made their stance clear that they are against the Bill, not against the Bengalis. The students warned those trying to drive a wedge between the Bengalis and those opposing the CAB.

The protest to the CAB also received unstinted support from every conscious citizen, including former Chief Minister of Assam Prafulla Mahanta, Hiren Gohain, Prasanta Rajguru, Manash Rabin, Tarali Sharma and many other noted personalities. Representatives from different colleges, including Gauhati Medical College, JB Law College, B. Barooah College, Morigaon College, North Lakhimpur College, Pub Kamrup College and Dibrugarh and Guwahati Universities also extended their support.

Significantly, the roadside vendors near Cotton University kept their shutters down as a mark of protest against the CAB.

Also Read: Constitutional Safeguards Must Precede CAB: AGP (Asom Gana Parishad)

Also Watch: Congress launched 7-hr hunger strike to protest against CAB in Tinsukia