GUWAHATI/ SHILLONG: The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) has condemned BJP’s claim to bring the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), 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.
NESO also issued a statement on Monday in which it stated that statement of Shah is an insult to the people’s movement of the whole of North East against CAB which culminated in the inability of the BJP led NDA government to table the bill in the recently concluded session of the Rajya Sabha.
“NESO, would again like to reiterate our stand that we are against the illegal Bangladeshis and we do not differentiate them on the basis of their religion, an illegal Bangladeshi is an illegal Bangladeshi irrespective whether a Hindu or Muslim,” the statement said.
The Confederation of Hynniewtrep Social Organisations (CoHSO) has also condemned the statement of BJP national president, Amit Shah who pledged to revive Citizenship Amendment Bill.
In a statement issued here, member of CoHSO, Lamphrang Kharbani said the political parties should break their ties with BJP asserting that the parties’ continuous support to the BJP serves to encourage the saffron party to continue harassing the minority communities.
“We urge the BJP members in Meghalaya to sever ties with the party and we suggest closing down all BJP offices in the state once and for all,” he said.
The CoHSO reiterated its demand to implement Inner Line Permit (ILP) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
India-Nepal peace treaty cancellation
The organisation also urged the state government to pass a resolution in the State Assembly demanding from the Centre to cancel the India-Nepal peace treaty.
“The presence of this treaty is a curse to the Hynniewtrep community,” Kharbani said.
