New Delhi: Public protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) erupted in early December in Assam, much before it spattered across the rest of India.
The protests are now two-pronged. In mainstream India, protestors are opposing the amendment as it goes against the constitutional values of equality and secularism; for being non-inclusive and meant only for certain religious groups from three Muslim countries. CAA could possibly also turn into a weapon for the BJP government at the Centre to discriminate against Muslims while conducting a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC), which it has promised to do several times.
Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently said that no decision has been taken on conducting a country-wide NRC, top BJP leaders like Amit Shah have been continuously contradicting him.
The second trigger for the protests is Northeast or Assam centric. Much as the leaders spearheading the protests in Assam have been calling the Modi government’s move to amend the Citizenship Act as ‘O-xangbidhanik’ (unconstitutional), they are primarily opposing it for violating the core of the Assam Accord. The Centre had settled the border state’s foreigner issue through the Accord in 1985. However, the BJP, by bringing in the amendment, has extended the state’s exclusive citizenship cut-off date from March 24, 1971 – as per the Accord – to December 31, 2014 for non-Muslim Bangladeshis.
One of the prominent voices taking on the BJP-led state government for including Assam in the CAA is Lurinjyoti Gogoi, general secretary of the All Assam Students Union (AASU), which was a signatory to the Accord. Gogoi has been addressing multiple rallies and public meetings held against the CAA across the state.
In an interview to The Wire during a recent visit to New Delhi, Gogoi said people in Assam are taking part in the protests because they are also seeking a political alternative in the 2021 assembly elections. “More and more, people are joining in because of the government’s increased centralised attitude. People are not to be given any regional autonomy, any protection of rights in the states in spite of a federal structure of administration. More and more, people are getting to realise that they are not able to have any control over their resources. They can’t enjoy it, have no control over it. People want an end to it,” he said.
Edited excerpts from the interview.
For over a month now, public protests have continued in Assam against CAA with the participation of a large number of people. However, some are of the view that they are prominent only in upper and middle Assam.
This is not true. The anti-CAA agitation is happening across Assam. Yes, some are saying that it is not happening in the (Bengali-dominated) Barak Valley. But that’s’ not true. The protests are taking place in Hailakandi and Karimganj areas of the Barak valley. Also in Cachar. People also tend to think that the protests are not happening in Karbi Anglong and BTAD (Bodo Territorial Autonomous Districts) areas as they have been exempted from the CAA. But that again is not true.
In Karbi Anglong, while the district’s headquarter Diphu is the epicentre of the protests, demonstrations are also taking place in Soriohjan, Bokajan, with people hitting the streets continuously. In the BTAD areas, it is happening in Tangla, Udalguri, Kokrajhar and Chirang district. In the neighbouring Bongaigaon too.
Yes, the momentum is highest in upper and middle Assam. In those parts, not just the district but the sub-district units of AASU are also holding protests in the interiors. From what I have seen in upper and middle Assam, the anti-CAA agitation has penetrated even to the villages.
In lower Assam, it was less in the beginning but is gradually gaining pace. People in lower Assam got the confidence to come out particularly after AASU held a massive rally in minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s home constituency. In Sualkuchi town under Jalukbari constituency, a rally held by AASU saw a bigger crowd than the one organised by the BJP as part of its peace rally a day later.
A protest meeting held by AASU in Dhemaji. Photo: Twitter/@lurinjtgogoi
Many are already comparing these protests with the Assam agitation of the 1980s. Do you think so?
The momentum has not waned, so it is very clear that it is not just the usual rounds of protest. I have only heard about the 1980s protests. Also what were the mistakes committed during those protests. This time, I can say that protestors are more matured, mainly the student community leading the protests. I will give you two examples here. Because of the continuous protests, exams have been postponed in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The administration in both Dibrugarh University and Gauhati University in Assam too toyed with the idea of postponing the exams due in December, keeping in mind the huge participation of students in the anti-CAA protests.
However, the student community didn’t support it. This approach was not there earlier. In the 1980s agitation, students lost at least one year of their academic year. I think the young generation today is much more matured than the earlier one. They have learnt from their predecessors’ mistake. I will give you another related example. I saw on Facebook a post by four university girls who sang a patriotic song and said, ‘We have exams from tomorrow but after they are over, we will return to the protest as we oppose the CAA.’
We have also repeatedly been saying that the protests are against Bangladeshis and not Bengalis or Hindi speakers.
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You have spoken about public participation in the protests even in the villages. But the government has been saying that this support is due to a misunderstanding of the impact of CAA on Assam.
People in the villages don’t have a nuanced understanding of the implications of the CAA on the state but what they have grasped is that through the Act, the government is trying to settle foreigners in Assam. They have understood that the government is trying to put the burden of foreigners on them. They have learnt that citizenship would be given to a lot of people and they would have equal rights as them. Many people are already flood affected and have lost their land. So they are worried that they themselves don’t have enough land to till and live; and yet land would be given to lakhs of foreigners. (According to Himanta Biswa Sarma, at least five lakh people would benefit from CAA in Assam). The government has failed to give jobs to the existing population. In such a scenario, more people would be fighting for a limited number of jobs.
Importantly, they have understood that the ruling dispensation is trying to make it a Hindu-Muslim issue in Assam, which people don’t support.
The BJP has been successful since the 2014 general elections to take away the tea tribe of the state away from the Congress to its fold. But there have been anti-CAA protests in the areas populated by the community. Why, according to you, is that happening?
People from the tea tribe have also come out. What is interesting is that when the tea gardens closed down for five consecutive days in December, the state government was forced to announce schemes aimed at the community, say, to increase daily wages from Rs 145 to Rs 167. Though, in the BJP’s vision document for Assam, Rs 350 was promised. They are yet again repeating some of the promises made earlier to the community as it is a deciding factor in many assembly constituencies in upper Assam. They are doing this because of fear that the community will not support the BJP.
I went to a meeting in Lahowal area in upper Assam organised by the tea tribe. About 30,000 people were there. The nearby gardens were closed because of the meeting. They were worried that they would lose their jobs. They fear that Bangladeshis would work for lesser wages. Apart from working in big company gardens, many also work in smaller gardens owned by individuals. They were worried that those jobs would be taken up by Bangladeshis for lesser wages. I felt they came to the meeting because of such worries.
Representative image. Tea garden workers in Assam. Photo: Reuters
The state government seems to have embarked on a four-pronged strategy to handle the protests. One, by periodically announcing various schemes aimed at people taking part in the protests. Two, by rushing in a senior police officer from Delhi to handle the law and order situation instead of the state police and involving the National Investigating Agency (NIA) to go after the opponents leading the protests. Three, blaming the Congress for the initial violence and also the Popular Front of India (PFI); and four, holding ‘peace rallies’ to keep the BJP cadre motivated. But AASU has said they fear the government may carry out ‘secret killings’, the kind that was seen in Assam during the Prafulla Mahanta era. Why so?
Yes, we said so after some incidents. For instance, some people, whom locals believed were police in plain clothes, visited an AASU member’s house in Khumtai area of Golaghat district. When they did not find him there, they blank-fired. Those armed people have not yet been identified, but locals suspect the role of a BJP MLA in the incident.
There have also been open killings. In an hour, three people were shot dead in cold blood in Guwahati. Peasant leader Akhil Gogoi was arrested by the NIA to scare us. They tried to turn the protest into a Hindu-Muslim issue but couldn’t. Those killed in Guwahati turned out to be a Christian, a Muslim and a Hindu youth.
The government first tried to suppress the protests with force and shot dead six persons. Many have been arrested. Several cases have been filed against protestors belonging to different organisations. AASU members have not been jailed yet, though some were picked up by the police initially. The public is with AASU, so they are a bit watchful.
When the Dibrugarh office of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) was attacked in December, AASU members were picked up but people reached the police station in large numbers. It included AGP cadre too. The AGP office bearers, including its mahila morcha members, asked police to release the AASU members as they had not registered a complaint with the police about the attack. The police had taken suo moto cognizance. AGP cadre members were angry with their leaders for supporting CAA in parliament. Police had to release the AASU members.
People from all walks of life have joined the protests. So the government is suddenly on an announcement spree to entice the public and possibly take them away from the rallies. So, separate schemes for artistes, sportspersons, writers, jobs to the unemployed and many others have been announced. No section of people taking part in the protests has been left out of these sudden announcements. Another attempt to carry out its divide-and-rule policy is to take away the janagusti (various tribes and sub-groups) from the protests by promising them several things. Some of these groups may be small but have political aspirations. So they are being enticed in some form or the other. By doing so, the government is trying to segregate the tribal and non-tribal populations of the state.
But the immediate question to be asked is, from where will the government fund these schemes and promises? Until a few days ago, the government was seeking donations to rehabilitate flood-affected people. Also, in a Sixth Scheduled district like Karbi Anglong, which receives Central funds also, the government is struggling to give monthly salaries to its employees.
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Political observers in Assam are already talking about the need for a political alternative in the state. What do you have to say about it?
The first question to be asked is why people are seeking an alternative. Those conscious of their regional identity and jatiotabadi ideology are not in support of the Congress. They look at them as the first saviours of the foreigners. The origin of the Assam movement was that narrative.
After the movement came the AGP (in 1985). Its birth as a political party was hinged on some core policies and beliefs. The Assam Accord was signed with the Centre but the AGP promised to ensure that the promises made in the accord are honoured. Importantly, it was not to compromise with the Centre on any issues that relates to the Assamese identity and concerns. But in its first ten years, they couldn’t do it and now their core beliefs are completely gone.
People of Assam chose the BJP, not for its Hindutva agenda but because they had no option. They felt that the BJP, being new to the state, would be a better option than the Congress and AGP, which have already ruled the state. The BJP then spoke of poriborton (change). It was certainly old wine but in a new bottle. The wine was also people’s own – xaaj pani (a traditional local brew). Xaaj pani was Sarbananda Sonowal. People saw him and voted for the party. They thought they would go with him because he would not compromise on community issues. That is why people are so upset with him. He couldn’t protect their interests, though many thought until the end that he would give a tough fight. I feel those surrounding him misdirected him, didn’t allow any fresh air to reach him.
Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Photo: Facebook/Sarbananada Sonowal
Basically, the demand for a political alternative is surfacing because of an ideological clash with the Centre. More and more, people are joining the protests because of the government’s increased centralised attitude. People are not to be given any regional autonomy, any protection of rights in the states, in spite of a federal structure of the Constitution. More and more, people are getting to realize that they are not able to have any control over their resources. They can’t enjoy it, have no control over it. People want an end to it.
I belong to Tinsukia, which is under the Dibrugarh district. The district has the largest number of tea gardens, coal and oil. Yet no government has been able to help the people of that area. Only appeasement policies have been passed, nothing for common good. Farmers are given Rs 7,000 per month; the tea tribe Rs 5,000 per month; only appeasement which beyond a point doesn’t help them. Tractors are given to farmers, but they do not have good irrigation facilities. Many feel they are being deprived of their rights, which has pained them.
Will AASU form a political party and lead the alternative?
We are not saying that AASU will form a political party. But we are conscious of the fact that common people want a change and we need to respect those sentiments. If the ongoing movement can’t lead to a solution, people will lose hope. There should be a logical conclusion to the protests. In meetings, rallies, mass gatherings, we have been asked the question, who should the Assamese vote for in 2021.
