Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) Jorhat district unit office secretary Ayushman Dutta on Wednesday resigned from the ABVP in protest against the BJP-led Central Government getting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 passed in the Lok Sabha.
Dutta, who is also the general secretary of the CKB Commerce College Students’ Union, after resigning from ABVP joined the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU).
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The resignation assumes significance as ABVP is a right-wing all India students organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Singh (RSS) and had for the first time made inroads into AASU strongholds post the BJP coming to power at the Centre.
Dutta joining the AASU also indicated the students’ body, which had led the six-year Assam Agitation, regaining its supremacy and being looked up to in leading the present agitation against the Bill.
He told media persons after joining the AASU that as an Assamese he felt he could not support the Bill which was against the greater interest of Assamese society.
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Dutta said that Bill would endanger the identity of the Assamese people.
“As ABVP is part of the Sangh parivar of which BJP is a major constituent I cannot remain in such an organisation. I am joining AASU to work for the interest of the State,” he said.
Jorhat district unit AASU Assistant General Secretary Bijay Shankar Bordoloi has welcomed Dutta and hoped that he would work actively for the students’ body.
In other parts of Jorhat students of Jorhat Medical College and Hospital, Jorhat College (Amalgamated) CKB Commerce College and DCB Girls’ College staged protests in their respective institutes against the Bill.