GUWAHATI: Several Opposition leaders, including Congress, have assured visiting delegations from the Northeast of solidarity and support to the ongoing movement against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2016, even as they advised representatives in the region to keep the agitation on till there was clarity.
A six-member team from Forum Against Citizenship Act Amendment Bill (FACAAB), a civil society group comprising conscious citizens, litterateurs, academics and retired public servants, led by its chairperson, Hiren Gohain, met leaders of various Opposition parties, including Congress president, Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday, to garner support against the contentious legislation, at a time when the Budget session of Parliament was on.
“The drift that we got from our interactions was that the leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, were against a legislation which went against the Constitution and the interests of indigenous people of the Northeast. The leaders urged us to keep the movement tempo high till February 13, which is the last day of the Parliament session,” FACAAB convener and a member of the visiting team, Manjit Mahanta told the media here on Tuesday.
The team also met JD (U) leader and Rajya Sabha MP, KC Tyagi, CPI national general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, Loktantrik Janata Dal leader, Sharad Yadav who assured active support.
Mahanta said that Rahul Gandhi had categorically conveyed the message that any move that posed a threat to the language, culture and history of the Northeast, which are invaluable resources of the country, would be opposed.
“Tyagi suggested us to keep the anti-CAB movement going in the region while both he and Rahul Gandhi assured of floor management in Parliament,” he said.
Congress has 50 MPs in Rajya Sabha while BJP has 73 members.
Mahanta however said the forum would appeal to the Samajwadi Party (which has 13 MPs in Rajya Sabha) and Bahujan Samajwadi Party (4 MPs) to support their cause as “it is apprehended that the parties were in support of CAB”. “So the support of Samajwadi Party towards the anti-CAB movement would be vital in stopping the Bill from being passed in the House,” he added.
However, the FACAAB convener pointed out that in the business advisory committee meeting on Monday, CAB did not feature in the list of Bills that were slotted for presentation in Parliament after several Opposition members had objected to the contentious Bill.
“However, BJP national general secretary, Ram Madhav had hinted yesterday that a supplementary list might be prepared on February 11 where CAB might feature. Most of the leaders too were apprehensive that a flip-flop by BJP might be on the cards and CAB might feature in the supplementary list,” Mahanta said.
Over the past few days, a delegation of Northeast regional party leaders led by Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma, besides representatives of North East Students Organisation (NESO) and the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti-led team representing 70 other indigenous organizations have been camping at the national capital and meeting national party leaders to garner support against CAB.