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Ahead of Winter Session, North-East braces for stir over Citizenship bill
The bill proposes to fast track the process under which Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan can get Indian citizenship.
An umbrella group of student organisations in seven northeastern states has said that protests against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill or CAB will be held across the region on Monday when Parliament’s winter session begins. The proposed legislation is likely to be tabled during the session.
“All the seven states will see protests against the CAB on Monday and we will submit memorandums addressed to the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] and the [Union] home minister [Amit Shah] through the governors,” said Samuel Jyrwa, the president of the group, the North East Student Organisation.
Samujjal Bhattacharya, the chief adviser of All Assam Students Union, said that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre has the numbers and it thinks it can go ahead with the passage of the bill.
“We are opposing it because it is communal, anti-constitutional, anti-indigenous people, anti-northeast, protector of illegal Bangladeshis and violator of the Assam Accord of 1985,” he said, referring to the pact that ended a six-year agitation in Assam for the detection of illegal immigrants residing in Assam.
The bill proposes to fast track the process under which Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan can get Indian citizenship. There were widespread protests against bill till it lapsed after it was passed in Lok Sabha in February. Indigenous groups fear that the proposed bill will encourage more migrations from Bangladesh.
Akhil Gogoi, an adviser to the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, a peasant rights body in Assam, said that the organisation will start the protests from Monday. “On November 22, there will be a big rally in Guwahati.”
In BJP-ruled Arunachal Pradesh, home minister Bamang Felix said that a nine-member consultative committee of the state government formed in October to safeguard the rights of indigenous people has found that locals are opposed to the legislation. “We met people from different organisations and political parties and groups. They are opposed to the CAB. We have conveyed their opinion to the state government. The report is likely to be discussed in the cabinet meeting on Monday.”
Mizoram home minister Lalchamliana said that the state government remains totally opposed to the CAB. “We will fight it,” he said. He said Shah has said that there will be a consultative meeting. “We are still waiting for that.”
In Meghalaya, BJP’s ally, the National People’s Party (NPP) said, it, too, is waiting for consultations with Shah. “When we met him on the issue of the CAB, he promised that he will visit and talk to all stakeholders. Let us wait for him to come,” said Prestone Tynsong, deputy chief minister and an NPP leader.
The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), BJP’s ally in Assam which withdrew support on the issue before joining the alliance again before national elections, said there is no change in its opposition to the proposed legislation. “But there is one thing that the BJP had said that they will discuss the bill with us before it is tabled. We are hopeful that discussion will happen soon,” said Manoj Saikia, spokesperson for the AGP.
