Assam CM On Bandh Against CAA: Before the Lok Sabha elections 2024, 16 opposition parties led by Congress announced to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019 in Assam. On the matter, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that if political parties are closed in violation of court orders, their registration can be cancelled.
According to news agency PTI, CM Sarma said that any protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019 should be taken to the Supreme Court and protesting on the streets will not serve any purpose as the law has already been made.
CM Sarma told why political parties cannot do this
“Everyone has the right to protest, but if any political party disobeys the court order, its registration can be cancelled,” he said on the sidelines of an event. He said that although it is acceptable for student organizations to call a bandh, political parties cannot do so in the state due to the Gauhati High Court order banning the bandh.
Referring to the announcement of intense agitation by opposition political parties on the implementation of CAA, he said, ‘If any political party violates the order of the High Court, we will take it to the Election Commission.’ The Chief Minister said that those opposing the CAA should present their views before the Supreme Court because it is the only authority that can now repeal this law.
Assam CM said, “If a more intense agitation was to be done, it should have been done before the law was passed.” Now it is just a matter of notifying the rules, which the government is bound to do. Now even if there is some movement, it is my guarantee that no new person will join it.
What is the law?
This law provides for granting Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis who entered India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014, after five years of residence here. Members of ‘United Opposition Forum, Assam’ (UofA), comprising sixteen groups, had protested on Friday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Assam.
Protests have taken place before too
The forum had said that a statewide bandh would be called the very next day after the implementation of the Act, after which Janata Bhawan (Secretariat) would be ‘gheraoed’. There were massive protests in the state after the Rajya Sabha passed the CAA on December 11, 2019, with agitators clashing with security forces, forcing the administration to impose curfew in several towns and cities. . Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier said that the CAA rules Lok Sabha Elections Will be notified and implemented before.
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