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Shutdown in Northeast to protest citizenship bill
Assam and six other states in the northeast came to a near standstill on Tuesday as several student bodies enforced an 11-hour shutdown in protest over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
Assam and six other states in the northeast came to a near standstill on Tuesday as several student bodies enforced an 11-hour shutdown in protest over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
The shutdown comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government cleared changes to the Citizenship Act, prompting one of its regional allies, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), to break ties.
The bill will allow citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014.
To be naturalised, applicants must have in India during the 12 months leading up to December 2014 and for 11 of the 14 years prior to that. This has become contentious because it can potentially inflame ethnic divides in the Northeast, where the influx of immigrants from Bangladesh has been a major issue over three decades.
In Assam, the call for the bandh was given by the All Assam Students Union (AASU), the influential students organisation. It has been supported by various other groups. The North East Students Organisation (NESO), an umbrella body of students organisations, also announced a shutdown.
“Police patrolling is being done to prevent any untoward incident. We have done adequate deployment,” Assam police chief Kuladhar Saikia said. Police said there are reports of some cases of violence but the details are still awaited. The shutdown began at 5:00am and will continue till 4:00pm.
Enforcers of the shutdown blocked roads, prevented vehicles from moving and burnt tyres on streets at various places across Assam since early morning. Educational institutions and commercial establishments downed shutters, but essential services were kept outside the purview of the shutdown.
“The Centre’s move to pass the bill despite opposition in the region over the fear of indigenous communities getting sidelined by illegal immigrants shows how far BJP can go for vote bank politics,” AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said while speaking to journalists.
“Today’s shutdown is just the beginning. If the bill is passed in Parliament, we will resort to more stringent means of protest. Legal avenues against the bill are also being explored,” he added. The shutdown reflects the sentiments of a section of people who are vociferously opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
“This bill is unconstitutional, illegal and immoral. It is not just a threat to Assam but to the Constitution. The preamble has secularism, right to equality, equality before law,” said Akhil Gogoi, president of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti. “We have explored all ways of protest. Now the only way left is to demand sovereignty.”
The views are also echoed by other sections, including the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) faction who are in talks with the government. “Assam’s people consider themselves Indians. But if the Centre is going to take actions which will make us a minority, we will have to reconsider if we want to stay with India,” said Jiten Dutta, a pro-talk ULFA leader.
