AJYCP president Manoj Baruah speaks at the news conference in Guwahati on Thursday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Oct. 16: The Asam Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) today announced that it would stage a demonstration in front of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi on November 4 to protest against construction of dams on the Brahmaputra in China.

AJYCP president Manoj Baruah today said the Brahmaputra, which is known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, is the lifeline of Assam and regulating the flow of the river by constructing dams at its origin would have dangerous consequences for Assam.

Baruah said China is constructing several dams at the source of the river in order to divert the river water to the arid northern part of the country.

“This is being done under China’s South-North Water Diversion Project, which threatens to cause desertification of Assam,” he said.

“To protest against the Chinese attempts to divert the Brahmaputra, we will hold a demonstration in front of the Chinese embassy at Chanakyapuri in Delhi on November 4,” the AJYCP leader said.

He said the Centre must also take up this issue strongly with the Chinese government.

Baruah said they were also opposed to construction of big dams in Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan because of their adverse downstream impacts on Assam.

He said the hundreds of AJYCP members would also stage a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on November 3 demanding resolution of various problems faced by the state.

According to Baruah, both the demonstrations in Delhi would be held under its “Save Assam” campaign.

“One of the main problems faced by the state is the illegal influx from Bangladesh. It has not only posed a threat to the identity of the indigenous communities but has also made the state a nerve centre of Islamic fundamentalism posing a serious threat to national security,” he said.

“The central ministers and the BJP are saying they will not compromise with the issues related to national security. We want to point out to them that the two issues — construction of dams on the Brahmaputra and illegal migration from Bangladesh — have serious implications for the country’s national security,” he said.

Baruah said the India-Bangladesh border in the state was yet to be sealed as a result of which unabated infiltration is taking place, which had converted the state into a breeding ground of fundamentalist forces having allegiance to terror groups like al Qaida.

He said they would hold statewide demonstrations on October 20 demanding uprooting fundamentalist forces from the state and also submit a memorandum highlighting their demand to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.