GUWAHATI: The North East Students Organisation (NESO) has condemned BJP’s claim to bring the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), 2016 back and urged people of the region to “give a befitting reply to the ruling party in the coming Lok Sabha elections”.
BJP national president, Amit Shah had in two election rallies in Assam on Sunday claimed to bring the Bill back if it was voted to power again, sparking concern among indigenous communities of Northeast, less than a week after the party failed to table CAB in Rajya Sabha amid protests across Northeast and uproar in Parliament against the Bill.
“Such a statement by the president of the ruling party at the Centre is unacceptable. It shows the party’s total disregard towards the sentiments and emotions of the people of the Northeast. It just wants to play to the vote bank of the people of a particular region. So now the people of the region need to give a befitting response in the coming Lok Sabha polls,” NESO chairperson, Samuel Jyrwa told The Shillong Times on Monday.
NESO, which comprises constituents such as All Assam Students Union and seven other unions across the region, had spearheaded the anti-CAB movement in the region along with several other organisations such as Forum Against Citizenship Amendment Act Bill and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti.
“For them (BJP), it does not matter whether the indigenous communities are protected or marginalised. The main agenda of BJP and RSS is to push their Hindutva agenda forward in the country and Northeast is their prime target. They want to turn the entire Northeast into a Hindu region by flooding it with illegal migrants,” Jyrwa claimed.
