GUWAHATI: A forum opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, along with the All Assam Students’ Union and 28 organisations representing various indigenous communities of Assam, have warned the Centre and the Assam government against imposing the Bill on the state.
The Nagorikotto Ain Xonxudhoni Birodhi Mancha, AASU and the 28 organisations, met for over three hours here on Monday and took a unanimous decision to hold further meetings and stage agitation against the Bill as it was detrimental to Assam’s interests.
“We oppose the anti-people Bill and will voice our protest against it through talks or agitation in the days to come. Our stand is that the burning problem of foreigners should be solved on the basis of the Assam Accord and that no foreigner, be it Hindu or Muslim, who have settled here after 1971 will be accepted,” Hiren Gohain, the chairman of the Mancha, told reporters after the meeting.
This was the first meeting of the forum and the organisations. The forum had earlier written to President Ram Nath Kovind highlighting the adverse effects the Bill will have on the people of Assam.
AASU chief adviser, Samujjal Bhattacharya said members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which was formed to examine the Bill, should come to Assam and hear what the people of Assam and the Northeast have to say in regard to the Bill.
AASU and the organisations representing different ethnic groups of the state, have already submitted a joint memorandum to the JPC but only some organisations have been called for the hearing.
“Sixteen organisations have attended the hearing of the JPC and now we demand that the remainder be allowed the same. In fact the committee members must come to Assam and take people’s opinions,” Bhattacharya said.
“Today’s meeting should serve as a stern reminder to the Centre and the state government that the Bill is not acceptable as it is a threat to the identity, culture, language and very existence of the people of the state. Assam has taken the burden of foreigners (Bangladeshi nationals) till 1971 but cannot do the same after 1971,” he said.