CAA | Secretariat employees wear black badges on duty

The Janata Bhawan (Assam Secretariat) employees are staging a protest by wearing black badges on duty against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Tuesday.

"We have observed a "black day" to protest against the government's actions," said some employees.

It may be mentioned that the Assam government had warned its employees of disciplinary action for "indulging and participating in political activities" on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

Thiscomes in the wake of severe protests in the state against the amended citizenshiplaw. Indigenous people of Assam, who vehemently protested against theCitizenship Amendment Act (CAA), fear it would primarily benefit illegalBengali Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, who have settled in large numbersacross the state.

"The government is trying to suppress our voices and that is injustice," said Basav Kalita, president the of Sadau Asom Karmachari Parishad, the apex employee union in the state, with 4,50,000 members.

"We don't support calls for violence, but the democratic rights of free speech should not be curtailed," said Kalita.

"All government employees have been protesting wearing black badges to mark the end of what has been a black year – the year when the Citizenship Amendment Act was enacted," Kalita added.