Summary:
Guwahati, Nov 22 (PTI) The Centre"s decision to repeal three controversial farm laws following an over-a-year-long agitation by agriculturists has given a fresh impetus to several outfits in Assam to revive the anti-CAA stir.
From All Assam Students" Union (AASU) to Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), outfits that were at the forefront of the movement in 2019, to Raijor Dal (RD) and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), political outfits formed by leaders of the protests, all are now holding discussions within their organisations and with other groups to intensify the agitation.
Leaders of these outfits said that the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) lost its "mass nature" due to the COVID-19 pandemic but asserted that the decision to repeal the farm laws has given a push to their stir.
Several outfits in the Northeast oppose the CAA, which seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014, fearing it will cause demographic change in the region that shares long borders with Bangladesh.
AASU chief advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharjya said that the decision to repeal the farm laws was taken because it was "Modi government"s injustice to the people".
"Now, the Centre has to repeal the CAA as it is against the indigenous people of the Northeast.