SHILLONG: The controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) stirred up another demonstration in the state with members of three organisations burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and NDA at Khyndailad on Friday.
Observing the ‘black flag day’, a brief argument erupted when a police official, P Pandey, took out a black flag put up by the members of FKJGP on the railings of the surrounding fountain.
Stating that it is public property, he argued they were not supposed to put up the black flags on the railings.
The irked organisations were unwilling to budge and re-erected the flags. They were later allowed when they informed the magistrate that the black flags will be put up only for a few hours.
President of FKJGP, Wellbirth Rani, said the agitation has only begun and will not allow the Khasi indigenous communities to be reduced to minority.
“We are not communal but we are here to fight for our rights. The agitation has just begun,” he said.
General secretary of Hynniewtrep National Youth Front (HNYF), Sadon Blah, pilloried the Centre’s family planning national programme, Hum do, hamare do while the Centre is attempting to give the green signal to foreigners to enter India and become citizens.
“What is the meaning to call them? There is a hidden political agenda,” he said.
He said the Centre has deceived the people of North East by instituting the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to visit the state.
Blah raised concerns that there is no limit to the entrance of refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh and criticised BJP for promoting vote-bank politics as the Lok Sabha elections is near.
NESO black day today
North East Students’ Organization (NESO) will observe ‘black day’ on Saturday across the region in protest against the Tripura police opening fire on peaceful protesters in the state on January 8 injuring over 18 people.
NESO adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya on Friday said that since Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb was of foreign origin, he couldn’t understand the pain of indigenous people.
“We are observing tomorrow as a black day to express our solidarity with the victims of the police firing. We are going to hoist black flags in different places of the region. However, we will go to Tripura once again to meet the victims of police firing,” he said.
The NESO leader expressed anger after the Tripura government prevented a delegation of the NESO on Friday to visit Khunglung hospital of Tripura where four youths, who received bullet injuries during a clash with police on January 8, were admitted in a hospital.
NESO Vice Chairman Dipank Kumar Nath, who was also part of the delegation, termed the administration of Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb as a ‘Talibani’ and said that the government cannot suppress the voice of the indigenous people of the state.
