GUWAHATI: Prabajan Virodhi Manch is likely to contest the ensuing Lok Sabha elections from Assam, a move which the anti-influx forum claims is an outcome of the “failure of the political parties to take cognizance of the interests of indigenous communities in the state.”
Announcing this before the media here on Wednesday, Manch convener Upamanyu Hazarika on Wednesday however said a confirmation on the forum’s decision to electoral politics would only be made known in a week’s time.
“We reiterate and request the Assam government to ensure protection of indigenous identity by taking three measures within a week from today. Firstly, we demand that a legislation protecting land rights, employment opportunities and trade licenses for indigenous people be enacted. Secondly, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) must be re-verified, and thirdly, no immigrant should be allowed to enter the state through instruments like the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB),” Hazarika, who is also a Supreme Court lawyer, said.
“If the government takes the three steps within a week, we will only be happy to reconsider our decision to enter electoral politics,” he however added.
Hazarika further said that the details of whether the forum members would contest as Independents, which apparently is the most likely option, or in how many parliamentary seats they would contest, would be declared after a week. “We will disclose everything after we know the government’s response to our demands,” he added.
The forum, it may be noted, has been raising the three demands over the past few months, having also set a deadline of January 31, 2019 for the government to implement them. It had also staged a rally in this regard on December 8 last year besides creating awareness against CAB across the state.