Assam villagers donate Rs 80,000 cash and 45,000 kg of paddy to AASU to fight against CAA

The farmers of about 85 villages in Assam's Dibrugarh district donated Rs 80,000 cash to the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) to help fund its legal fight against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Besides cash, the farmers and residents of the 85 villages under Sasoni mouza of Naharkatia in the oil-rich upper Assam district also donated 450 quintals of paddy (45,000 kg), which they had grown, to the AASU.

The villagers had handed over the paddy and cash amount to AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi during the anti-CAA agitation programme.

According to the reports, the donation drive in Sasoni mouza was started two weeks ago where each household had donated at least 4 kg of paddy and those who didn't have paddy, they contributed cash amount equivalent of the paddy quantity.

Four young men of Sasoni area



- Kumud Gogoi, Ajit Neog, Nripen Borah and Nagen Deka -- were earlier killed around 40 years ago while enforcing an oil blockade at Oil India Limited headquarter at Duliajan during the six-year Assam movement (anti-foreigner agitation).

AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said the people of Assam won't accept the CAA at any cost and everyone in the state wants to protect their identity, language, culture.

"The people of Assam have already rejected the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The government is now preparing to implement the new citizenship act, but our protests, agitations will be continued until it is not scrapped," Lurinjyoti Gogoi said at the protest rally.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on January 22 is scheduled to hear the petitions filed by various organizations by challenging the validity of the new citizenship act.