AJP burns CAA notification in Guwahati, calls BJP’s deadline extension ‘greatest betrayal in Assam’s history’

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaSeptember 3, 2025

The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) on Wednesday staged a strong protest in Guwahati against the BJP-led central government’s decision to extend the deadline for granting Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) until December 31, 2024.

Born out of the anti-CAA movement, the regional party described the extension as the “biggest crime” committed against the Assamese people, accusing the BJP of inflicting an unprecedented historical injustice on the state.

As soon as the notification was made public, over a hundred AJP leaders, office-bearers and workers gathered at the party’s central office in Guwahati. They tore up multiple copies of the new notification and set them on fire in a symbolic act of defiance. The protestors raised slogans including “Down with BJP,” “Down with Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Himanta Biswa Sarma,” “We will not accept CAA,” “BJP is a supporter of Bangladeshis,” and “Anti-Assamese BJP go back.”

In a joint statement, AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi and general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan said the BJP had chosen to endanger the very existence of the Assamese nation for the sake of Hindu Bangladeshi votes. They accused the government of being obsessed with its vote bank while sacrificing Assamese identity and survival.

The AJP leaders highlighted that the proportion of Assamese speakers in the state has been steadily shrinking. “In every decade, the share of Assamese-speaking people has fallen by about five per cent. According to the 2011 Census, only 48 per cent of Assam’s population spoke Assamese. Despite this alarming trend, the BJP has pushed CAA to legalise illegal foreigners and accelerate the erosion of Assamese identity,” their statement read.

Gogoi and Bhuyan argued that by extending the CAA deadline, the government had increased Assam’s burden from “43 years of foreigners to 53 years,” calling it a grave injustice. “Nowhere else in the world has a government imposed such a heavy burden of foreigners on its own people,” they said.

The AJP also accused the BJP of betraying the faith of Assamese voters who had supported the party since 2014 and brought it to power in the state twice. “In return, the BJP has committed the greatest betrayal in Assamese history. The people never imagined such an injustice,” the statement said.

Holding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma directly responsible, the AJP leaders demanded that they answer to the people of Assam for what they described as an unforgivable act of treachery.