From Our Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI: Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), the apex students association in Mizoram, has conveyed its gratitude to Meghalaya chief minister, Conrad Sangma for his significant stand against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2016, which could not be passed in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, the last day of the current session.
“This is a victory for democracy and for the people of Northeast who have opposed the contentious legislation tooth and nail from the very outset. Here, we would like to specially thank Meghalaya chief minister, Conrad Sangma for maintaining a clear stand against CAB (in the Cabinet last year) and for taking up the mantle to oppose the Bill in New Delhi,” Ricky Colney, spokesperson of MZP told The Shillong Times, minutes after the Parliament session was adjourned on Tuesday afternoon.
MZP is a constituent of the North East Students Organisation (NESO).
“We would also like to thank all the Opposition parties who were with NESO and had offered their support in Delhi,” Colney said.
For its part, MZP has thrown its weight behind the agitation against the Bill in the state, which also saw protesters carrying placards demanding an “Independent Republic of Mizoram” on Tuesday.
“Over the past few days, protesters have displayed black flags against the Centre’s move to pass the contentious legislation. Some people had expressed desires to “be with neighbouring China as there has always been a feeling of discontentment and despair among the people of Mizoram and Northeast with ‘mainstream India’ treating us unfairly over decades now,” Colney said.
“This feeling of anguish can be traced to the past. The scars of the 1966 bombing of Aizawl– the first raid by Indian Air Force on civilian territory within India and an uprising by the Mizo National Front, have not quite been healed. And hence, the show of discontentment was what one got to see on the placards carried by the protesters on Tuesday,” he added.