Guwahati, November 18: The Northeast Students' Organisation (NESO) and the All Assam Students Union (AASU) held a protest in Guwahati today, on Monday, against the Citizenship Amendment Bill. AASU called the bill communal and said that it put to risk the existence of the indigenous peoples in the region.
The students’ organisations hit the streets across the northeastern states on Monday to protest against the bill. They said that they oppose the Centre’s plan to introduce the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill is aimed at speeding the process of issuing citizenship to six non-Muslim communities who managed to escape from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan allegedly due to facing religious persecution.
Members and students of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) marched till the Raj Bhavan in Guwahati. Then, a group submitted a memorandum to Governor Jagdish Mukhi.
Earlier, Manipur People against Citizenship Amendment Bill (MANPAC), a conglomerate of several civil bodies in the state had organised a protest march against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).The march began with loud ringing of bells and by forming human chains during which slogans against the contentious bill were chanted.
CAB poses a severe threat to the existence of indigenous people of the North East because the Bill if implemented, will allow illegal migrants from neighbouring countries including Bangladesh to get Indian citizenship.
Dilip said that the North East people need to stay alert as the second term of Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) meeting held recently in Guwahati reiterated his commitment that the Bill would be passed in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8, aims at granting citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.In February this year, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC were imposed in East and West Imphal districts ahead of the tabling of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the Rajya Sabha. However, the Bill could not be passed.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 18, 2019 09:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).