The Congress on Tuesday promised to build a memorial for the “martyrs” of the movement against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) if it is voted back to power in Assam.

Five people were allegedly killed in police firing during the violent protests against CAA in December 2019. They were Azizul Hoque, 45, Ishwar Nayak, 25, Abdul Amin, 23, Dipanjal Das, 19, and Sam Stafford, 17.

‘A message to BJP’

“The grand memorial for those who sacrificed their lives to save Assamese pride by opposing CAA will be a landmark in Guwahati. This will be message to BJP that Assam does not want CAA,” State Congress president Ripun Bora said.

“The memorial shall remember the people’s struggle and sacrifices, protest songs and paintings,” Lok Sabha Member and chairman of the Congress Campaign Committee Pradyut Bordoloi said.

Debabrata Saikia, the Congress Legislature Party leader in the outgoing Assembly, said the resentment of the people against CAA has ensured that the “dark days of BJP’s oppression of the Assamese people” would be over soon.

Launching the Congress campaign from eastern Assam’s Sivasagar on February 14, Rahul Gandhi had said the Congress would respect the Assam Accord and not let the “botched-up CAA” to be implemented after being voted to power.

Congress leader Bobbeeta Sharma said the party’s firm resolve against CAA on Tuesday was a step towards its “Save Assam” campaign. The party had on February 12 launched Axom Basaon Ahok (Let’s save Assam) — a two-week bus yatra to “free” the State from “Nagpuria influence”.