Various indigenous organisations of Duliajan and surrounding areas in Dibrugarh district of Assam have ‘banned’ some famous Assamese actors who belong to families linked to the BJP. These organisations are headed by the Duliajan units of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP). The move comes in the wake of the tension brewing in Assam over the BJP government’s CAB initiative.
Among those affected by this ‘ban’ are Aimee Baruah, wife of BJP leader and minister of state for health Pijush Hazarika; Gayatri Mahanta, wife of producer Pabitra Margherita; popular Assamese singer Krishnamoni Chutia who is in favour of the BJP-led government’s stand on the CAA; and actor Akashdeep, husband of BJP MLA and actor-turned-politician Angoorlata Deka. “From Duliajan, we appeal to the people of Assam to ban everyone taking side of the illegal Bangladeshis and the government which is out to regularise their entry,” said Anil Gogoi, cultural secretary of the central committee of AASU, hailing from Duliajan.
At a time when the artistes’ fraternity in Assam has played a leading role in the movement to repeal the CAA, some of the most familiar faces from the state’s cultural arena are yet to make their stand clear in the citizenship law that has kept Assam on the boil ever since the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in Parliament.
Backed by AASU, popular singer Zubeen Garg has gone to the extent of challenging the BJP in the 2021 assembly polls and vowed to start a political party to “keep intact the interests of the indigenous communities” after the CAA was enacted.