GUWAHATI: Two-time former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, whose NSG security cover has been replaced with the CRPF, said the people of Assam would protect his life.
“I don’t mind the withdrawal of my NSG security cover. I am hopeful the people of Assam will protect my life,” Mahanta, who is a leader of regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), told journalists.
He alleged that the government was vindictive towards him as he had been all along opposing the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). He asserted that he would keep fighting against the CAA along with the people of Assam.
The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to “persecuted” Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who migrated till December 31, 2014. The Act violates the Assam Accord which the Rajiv Gandhi government had signed with the All Assam Students’ Union in 1985 at the end of six-year-long bloody Assam Agitation. It says the immigrants, irrespective of their faith and who migrated after March 24, 1971, are to be detected and deported.
Meanwhile, the protests against the CAA continued in Assam. In the commercial township of Tinsukia, thousands of people belonging to various communities came out of their homes on Sunday and staged the protests by taking out a procession.
Peasants’ body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samitee too hit the streets. It demanded the release of its leader Akhil Gogoi. He was arrested for his alleged linkage with the CPI Maoists and is now in the custody of the National Investigation Agency.
In Manipur, the authorities imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in Imphal West district for two months. The action was taken as the protests in the form of rallies and sit-in demonstrations against the amended Citizenship Act continued.
In Meghalaya capital Shillong, curfew was lifted on Sunday morning as normalcy returned to the hill station. People flocked to shops to buy essential commodities and Christmas items. Parts of the town had witnessed violent protests against the CAA recently.