A day after Assam witnessed massive protests over the government notifying the rules to implement the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) four years after it was passed, the Guwahati Police have issued a legal notice to political parties who have called for a 'Sarbatmak Hartal' against the Centre's decision. The police have warned the parties of legal action, adding that in case of any damage to public and private proterty, the cost will be recovered from the person or the organisation.




"Any damage to public/ private property including Railway and National Highway properties or injury to any citizen caused due to 'Sarbatmak Hartal', legal action under appropriate provisions of law including Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 will be initiated against you and the total cost of damage to public and private properties will be recovered from you and your Organization," the police said in the notice.




This comes after widespread protests rocked Assam which saw the burning of CAA copies with the oppostion training its guns on the ruling BJP saying that the move was deliberately made to for electoral benefits.


The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and 30 indigenous non-political groups burnt CAA copies as they staged demonstrations in different parts of the state, including Guwahati, Kamrup, Barpeta, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Dibrugarh, Golaghat and Tezpur.


The AASU which previously started and led a six-year stir demanding the identification and deportation of illegal immigrants in 1979 vowed to fight the legislation both  inside and outside the court.


The police notice came after the 16-party United Opposition Forum, Assam (UOFA) called for a statewide hartal on Tuesday apart from taking up other agitational programmes in a phased manner.


Following the protests and the hartal calls, security was tightened across Assam with the deployment of additional deployment police personnel. All police stations have been directed to be on alert across the states in major points which witnessed massive protests during the passage of the Act in December 2019.


The UOFA in a statement said it won't accept illegal foreiners as it wholeheartedly supports the implementation of the Assam Accord, which detects all foreigners entering the state on or after March 25, 1971 and deletes them from electoral rolls and deports them. "We will not accept the CAA at any cost as it will destroy the Assamese community. It will finish our language, literature, culture and identity," the statement said.


The issuance of CAA regulations marks a significant move by the Modi administration, enabling the granting of Indian citizenship to persecuted migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, specifically non-Muslims who arrived in India prior to December 31, 2014. This encompasses individuals from diverse religious backgrounds such as Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians. Until now, the law had remained inactive due to the absence of notified regulations.