AJYCP activists on Monday formed a human chain in front of the Jorhat deputy commissioner’s office complex in protest against CAA 2019 and other central government policies.

The Asom Jatiyabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) members vehemently opposed the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 notification saying that it would adversely impact Assam.

The members of the AJYCP Jorhat district unit, joined by other individuals, carried banners and shouted slogans against the Assam government and the central government.

AJYCP Jorhat district president Pranab Jyoti Saikia said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed in the Parliament in December 2019, is detrimental to the state.

Saikia said the day is not far off when the people of Assam would become a minority in their own state if the Act is implemented here.

The CAA grants citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis and other religions barring Muslims, who fled from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan due to persecution in those countries.

Assam has a huge population of Hindus, who came from Bangladesh.

The people are apprehensive that if the huge population is given citizenship, Assam would not only have to take this huge burden but the Assamese language would also become a language spoken by a minority population.

In the past fortnight, anti-CAA agitations have intensified in Jorhat with the AASU and other organisations taking to the streets.

The AJYCP also opposed another contentious proposal of the Centre, the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 notification.

Saikia said the EIA notification would give a free hand to the industrialists for setting up projects anywhere in Assam and it would adversely impact Assam’s fragile ecosystem.

Another government move wherein agricultural land could be given for industrial purposes was also opposed by the AJYCP.

Zakir Hussain, vice president, Jorhat district AJYCP, and other office-bearers were also present during the protest.

Smita Bhattacharyya is Northeast Now Correspondent in Jorhat. She can be reached at: [email protected]