Government employees are now joining the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
The general secretary of the Secretariat Services Association (ASSA), Partho Hazarika, on Friday said the association was planning to stage a sit-in on the secretariat campus.
“The bill has been rejected by our own people. We, in unison, do not want it,” he said.
Hazarika said the sit-in would be staged after office hours, from 7pm to 9pm, without resorting to violence.
He said of the 3,500 employees in the secretariat, only 500 attended office on Friday.
The secretariat bus services usually deployed to transport employees in the city and far-off places like Mirza and Azara have been suspended following vandalism.
Women employees, who come from as far as Khetri and Borjhar, are finding it extremely difficult to reach office.
“Though government service holders are an integral part of the government system, at times, we have staged a demonstration as our motherland is more important than our jobs,” Hazarika said.
“We like to remind everyone that the secretariat employees, irrespective of the jobs they hold, have always shown love for the motherland and have upheld the unique identity of the Assamese community,” he said.
He added that protest marches led by students and public must be peaceful and dignified.
He also mentioned the martyrdom of Dilip Chakraborty, who was an employee in the secretariat during the Assam Agitation and sacrificed his life on November 1, 1980, during the Dispur Gherao programme.
“We request the public to protest with dignity for a matter which is right. We urge them to continue their protests peacefully and at the same time let people and children resume work and studies normally,” he added.