Day #2: Why Assam is opposing CAB?

Day 2: The protests are not stopping and I am still stuck in Assam.

There’s a lot happening in Assam right now and I am sure that if you are not in North-East, you don’t know about it. I don’t blame you, but I think it’s important for you to understand and know that the state is in peril. You might think this is all about religion, because that’s what you are being taught by the fascist government. It’s a lot more than that. Assam was never about Hindus or Muslims.

Out of the seven sister states of north-east, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland comes under the Inner Line Permit. Manipur is scheduled to be a part of it soon. Entire Meghalaya, 70% of Tripura and only 3 districts of Assam is under the 6th Schedule. The states under ILP and 6th schedule will not be affected by CAB and hence the major outburst comes from the state of Assam.

Bangladesh is a failed nation, as a result of which, their citizens are crossing borders and rivers and reaching Assam, owing to the porous state of the borders. Assam has always provided a shelter to the immigrants, until the late 1970 when Assam realised that it didn’t have resources to satisfy the 50+ lakhs of illegal immigrants. The economy of Assam is very fragile. It is an earthquake prone zone and heavy industries are not located here. With the acceptance of CAB, there will be shortage of jobs, housing and practically no higher education.

The 50+ lakhs immigrants will be indebted to the present government for life for getting the citizenship and they will always vote for it irrespective of development in the state. If you question why the ruling party is the same government which issued CAB, then you must know the agenda of the government was not same before. The government’s NRC was supposed to expel these immigrants out of Assam, but CAB promises them citizenship. Fascism on your face.

There are 200+ tribes living in Assam and with the influx of Bangladesh’s Hindu, the Assamese people are in danger of losing their culture and ethnicity. The 2 Muslim tribes of Assam have lived happily among the other tribes. This protest isn’t about religion, it’s about protecting their homeland.

This has happened before, the Assam Movement (1979-1985) and more than 860 people had lost their lives protecting their motherland. The Central Government that signed the Assam Accord that promised to send back the immigrants. But that remained on the paper. The CAB is against the Assam Accord. Are you waiting for another 1000 lives to understand that Assam will not give up?

Army has been deployed in most parts of Assam and many have died. I don’t blame them as they have orders. Orders from the government you voted. Internet has been shutdown in all of Assam. The news channels are not being allowed to record the protest and the journalists are being beaten up. They even lit their offices. Food is running out. Schools, colleges and universities are in lockdown. ATMs have run out of cash. Trains and flights rescheduled till further notice. And now they are planning to cut off the electricity.

I am safe in the university (as of now). But my sister is in Guwahati, in a very unstable area. I am scared for her. I want all of these to stop. Its painful for me to watch my friends spending nights on the road, in this bitter cold protesting, while studying for their last examination of the year. Every time there is a power cut, I feel like this is the end. No internet, no power. Where are we heading towards? Everyone is angry and everyone is hurt.

My Assamese friends don’t have many connections outside north-east and its very difficult for them to convey the message they want to share. If you are reading this and you are outside Assam, please help us. Please share the news. Inform yourself and others of what is happening.

ASSAM IS NOT OK. PLEASE HELP US.