Sonowal ready to talk with CAA protesters

R Dutta Choudhury

GUWAHATI, Jan 25 - Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said that he is ready to talk with any organisation opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act to resolve the issues. Meanwhile, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) has asserted that the Chief Minister should make his stand clear on the issue or else there would be no point talking to him. Sonowal told The Assam Tribune that he is keen to talk with anyone. Sonowal said that he started the process of talks with different organisations of the State on December 16 last year on the issue of CAA and till date, he has already held talks with around 25 organisations representing different ethnic groups. He has also spoken to different literary organisations. Sonowal said he is also keen on talking to the AASU, which is spearheading the movement against the CAA. However, at the same time, he admitted that the Assam Agitation was led by the AASU and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad, and it was easier for the government to hold talks with the movement leaders. On the other hand, different organisations are now agitating against the CAA, making the task difficult for the government, the Chief Minister added. Meanwhile, AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said the student body has not received any invitation from the Chief Minister for talks. On which issue the Chief Minister will talk. If he can change his stand on the CAA, we can talk with him. Otherwise, there is no point talking to him, Gogoi said. The AASU general secretary said that before the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was moved in the Parliament, the Union Home Minister called the AASU for talks and the Chief Minister, who was also present in the meeting, was, in fact, supporting the CAA. The Chief Minister should have tried to impress upon the Union Home Minister that the situation in Assam is different from the rest of the country, but he failed to do that, Gogoi added.