Anti-CAA Assam Groups Form New Party Ahead Of 2021 Polls

Ahead of next year's Assembly elections the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and the Asom Jatiyabadi Yuba-Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) - influential activist groups that spearheaded the anti-CAA movement in the state - have come together to form a new regional political party.

The new party has been christened "Asom Jatiya Parishad" and plans to maintain its distance from both the BJP and the Congress.

Speaking to reporters in Guwahati on Monday, the representatives of the new party said it had been formed with the motto "Assam first, always and ever".

The name was announced today by the convenors of a 16-member advisory committee formed by the AASU and AJYCP to "suggest" how the party may be formed. The party is being set up based on that report.

The two outfits had felt the need for a new political party - one that would strengthen regionalism in Assam - during anti-CAA agitations. The AASU had taken the lead in those protests - people from all walks of lives participated in the movement to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

From the movement the AASU gained momentum and decided to launch a political party to highlight the real issues of the people.

Lurinjyoti Gogoi, the General Secretary of the AASU, tweeted: "The political party which has the aspirations of the Assamese people has been named - Asom Jatiya Parishad".

Mr Gogoi also said: "To prevent the communal, nationalist and anti-Assam powers, following the advice of the people of Assam, all the regional powers have come together with a hope to rise politically. All hail Assam".

The AASU led the "anti-foreigner's agitation" in the state between 1979 and 1985, which culminated in the Assam Accord of 1985. The group also promoted the formation of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) but, over the past few decades both the AASU and the AJYCP have been largely apolitical.

Interestingly, after the anti-CAA protests the AGP had formed a student's wing - something that irked the AASU, sources said.

Assam has seen several top politicians emerge from the AASU, including former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and current Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, as well as Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP's troubleshooter in the northeast.

Violent protests, led in many areas by the AASU, broke out across Assam in December over the citizenship law, leading to the deaths of at least five people, imposition of curfew in Guwahati and suspension of internet services.

The Citizenship Amendment Act makes, for the first time, religion a test of citizenship. The government has said it will help non-Muslim refugees fleeing persecution from three Muslim-dominated neighbouring countries. Critics have said it violates the Constitution and discriminates against Muslims.