GUWAHATI: The Congress in Assam on Monday released its first “video advertisement” to shed light on the “draconian duo” of Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The video advertisement, aired across social media platforms, was trending with more than one million views, the party claimed.
It is showcased with the music and language of ‘Bhaona’, a Vaishnavite form of spiritual drama popularised by the medieval saint-reformer Srimanta Sankardeva and several of his disciples.
It affirms with the conviction that the Congress will give courage to the people to raise their voice and provide relief to the grassroots sections by nullifying the “anti-people” CAA. The song visually iterates that the Congress will defeat all evil and communal forces.
Nullifying CAA is among the Congress’s five guarantees, announced by party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra recently.
The CAA, which seeks to protect the non-Muslim immigrants who entered India till December 31, 2014, is in conflict with the Assam Accord.
The Accord, signed in 1985 by the Rajiv Gandhi government at the end of six-year-long bloody Assam Agitation, says the immigrants, irrespective of faith, who entered Assam after March 24 (midnight), 1971 are to be detected and deported. The NRC of 1951 was also updated in the state based on this cut-off date.
Two political parties – Asom Jatiya Parishad and Raijor Dal – were floated last year by the students and activists against the backdrop of a violent agitation against CAA. Both parties are contesting this election.