AASU launches 11-hour hunger strike in Dibrugarh demanding strict implementation of Assam Accord

Dibrugarh: All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) members on Thursday organized an 11-hour hunger strike in Dibrugarh, demanding strict implementation of the Assam Accord and a permanent resolution to the protracted issue of illegal migration from Bangladesh.The demonstration, held from 6 am to 5 pm at Aasu’s Swahid Bhavan campus, adjacent to the district commissioner’s office, saw the protestors raise slogans against both the state and central govts, accusing them of failing to protect the rights and future of Assam’s indigenous communities.Aasu’s Dibrugarh district president Rupjyoti Borthakur said the agitation was a necessary measure to highlight the severity of the situation.

“This protest is aimed at drawing the govt’s attention to the alarming situation created by the unabated influx of illegal migrants,” Borthakur said. He reiterated that the Assam Accord, which was signed in 1985, following years of mass agitation led by Aasu, remains the only viable solution to the state’s migration crisis.

The historic accord had promised to detect and deport illegal migrants, who had entered the state after March 24, 1971.

The student organisation presented a comprehensive set of demands, including complete removal of illegal Bangladeshis and fundamentalists from Assam. Among their most stringent demands, Aasu called for complete sealing of the India-Bangladesh border, urging for a shoot-on-sight orders for trespassers, reflecting the organisation’s hardline stance on border security. They also demanded Assam’s exclusion from the ambit of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), viewing as a contradiction to the Assam Accord’s principles.They also pressed for the immediate enforcement of the Biplab Kumar Sharma Committee recommendations on Clause 6 of the accord, which is intended to provide constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect Assamese people.“The indigenous population faces an existential threat, if urgent action is not taken,” said Aasu’s town unit president Tanuj Haloi.