Asom Sonmilito Morcha leads Assam protest against CAA extension, warns of identity risk

Guwahati, Sept 4: The Asom Sonmilito Morcha (ASM), on Thursday, staged a protest at Chachal, voicing strong opposition to the Centre’s extension of the CAA cut-off to December 2024 and highlighting alleged corruption among state leaders.

The demonstration drew support from leaders and workers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI(M), and the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and also Congress.

Protesters voiced strong opposition to granting citizenship to foreign nationals who entered India illegally up to December 31, 2024, the displacement of indigenous and tribal communities by outsider business groups, and alleged corruption scandals involving the Chief Minister, BJP leaders, and their families.

AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi warned that Assam would bear the brunt of the Centre’s order more than any other state.

“Pushing illegal infiltrators into Assam is sheer injustice. The government once promised deportation of infiltrators, but after securing votes, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Amit Shah, and Prime Minister Modi have betrayed the people,” he said.

Gogoi added that the 10-year exemption could be repeatedly extended, posing a threat to Assam’s identity, culture, and land. “Whether Hindu or Muslim, we will not tolerate illegal foreigners in Assam,” he declared, urging people to unite and continue the protest movement.

Earlier in the day, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) also condemned the Centre’s Gazette Notification bringing into effect the Immigration and Foreigners Exemption Order, calling it a “blatant vote-bank strategy” of the BJP.

The Congress argued that while the law is meant for the entire country, its impact would be felt most acutely in Assam, where illegal immigrants stand to gain directly.

The party demanded that the Assam government clearly inform the Centre that the order should not be implemented in the state, and urged voters to reject the BJP in the 2026 Assembly elections.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Centre’s order, extending the CAA cut-off to December 31, 2024, sparked widespread opposition in Assam, with political leaders and student groups calling it a “black day” for the state.

The Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025, published in the Gazette of India, exempts certain communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bhutan, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians, from needing passports or valid travel documents if they entered India on or before the new deadline.

The extension has reignited the CAA debate in Assam, which has long opposed the law for undermining the 1985 Assam Accord, which fixed March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for detecting and deporting illegal migrants.