Anti-CAA protests: Oppn forum announces statewide strike in Assam against Centre's notification

Guwahati: The 16-party United Opposition Forum, Assam (UOFA) announced a statewide strike on Tuesday against the Centre notifying the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules, a subject of contention in the northeastern state. The forum will also hold a series of agitation programmes. Guwahati police issued a legal notice to all organisations that have called for a strike in Assam.

Protests erupted in Assam on Monday night, hours after the Centre announced the CAA notification. Assam had earlier witnessed protests including violence in several places after the Bill was passed into law in 2019. On Monday, copies of the CAA were burnt by the influential All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and 30 indigenous organisations in different parts of the state.

Chief Advisor of AASU, Samujjal Bhattacharya, said the North East Student Organisation (NESO) will burn copies of the CAA on Tuesday in each of the state capitals in the northeast.

The next day, a 'Satyagraha' would be launched by AASU and 30 organisations, along with torchlight processions in Assam, he stated.

Bhattacharya had earlier said: "CAA is an injustice towards the people of Assam and northeast, and at least 53 petitions from Assam and Tripura have been submitted before the Supreme Court against it since December 2019.

Tribal areas in northeast out of purview of CAA
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, will not be implemented in most tribal areas in northeastern states, including those granted special status under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution.

According to the law, it will not be implemented in all northeastern states where the Inner Line Permit (ILP) is required for a visit by people from other parts of the country. The ILP is in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur.

The tribal areas, where autonomous councils were created under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution, were also exempted from the purview of the CAA, officials said quoting from the rules of the law that were notified on Monday.

Such autonomous councils are in existence in Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura. These include Karbi Anglong, Dila Hasao and Bodoland Territorial Council areas in Assam, Garo Hills in Meghalaya and tribal areas in Tripura.

The CAA seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis who came to India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
(With PTI inputs)