GUWAHATI : A delegation of regional Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) led by rthe party president Atul Bora on Friday met Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma at his residence in Tura and decided to work out a joint strategy to fight against the contentious Citizenshi (Amendment) Bill, 2016
The meeting discussed at length the threat the Bill can pose to the people of entire northeastern states and decided to oppose the Bill jointly.
The AGP recently snapped its ties with the BJP-led government in Assam in protest against the BJP-led NDA government’s attempt to get Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 enacted.
The NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government headed by Conrad Sangma too has registered its opposition to the Bill through a Cabinet resolution even though the BJP is a constituent in the MDA that also has UPD, HSPDH, PDF in its fold.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma appreciated the strong stand taken by the AGP over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 and said that all the seven states of the northeast India should jointly fight against the contentious Bill, a source in the AGP said here.
“The Bill will not only jeopardise the identity of the indigenous people of Assam and other states in the northeast India but will also bypass the historical Assam Accord,” said AGP president, Atul Bora.
He further added that the ongoing process of updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will also be affected if the Bill is implemented.
The other members of the AGP delegation were Keshab Mahanta, Birendra Prasad Baishya, Pradip Hazarika, Phani Bhusan Chodhury, Kamala Kalita and Ramendra Narayan Kalita.