GUWAHATI/SHILLONG: The influential North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) on Friday called for an 11-hour North East bandh on December 10 to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB).
NESO advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya said that the bandh has been called jointly by all students’ organisations of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura. However, the NESO has exempted Nagaland from the bandh due to the ongoing Hornbill Festival in Kohima and students of the state will stage protests in front of Raj Bhavan there.
The proposed new law, however, will not be applicable in the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime areas and those tribal regions which are governed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
The contentious CAB, which has generated widespread protests in the Northeastern states, is expected to be tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday and it is likely to be debated and passed on December 10.
In a representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the NESO expressed strong resentment at the Union Cabinet’s approval of the bill.
The CAB seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims who have come to India following religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014.
NESO termed the attitude of the union government as a treacherous act which is a big threat to the identity and survival of the indigenous communities of the North East and this will further.
It said the indigenous people of the region are against the bill since they are microscopic communities in and have borne the burden of illegal migration since 1947.
The organisation stated that the indigenous people of Tripura have been reduced to a minority in their own land following the 1971 war while in Assam, too they are now a minority in 11 districts.
“We have people’s movement in different states of NE against the illegal infiltrators but illegal migration of people from Bangladesh still continuing till date and the amendment also violates the provisions of the historic Assam Accord”, the NESO said.
It questioned the Centre whether it stood for its own citizens or for the illegal migrants. “In fact, the duty of the government is to protect its own citizens from external aggression but through this amendment, instead of deporting them, the GOI is rewarding their illegal entry by granting them Indian citizenship”, NESO said.
Further, the organisation stated that this will only encourage more infiltration from Bangladesh where the present Hindu population is more than 140 lakh.
Unacceptable, will continue to oppose: KSU
Meanwhile, the president of the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), Lambok Marngar said the Union government’s talk to exempt the Sixth Schedule areas is only to beguile the residents of the state. “If we talk of scheduled areas, it has been there since 1952, but the state is still grappling with influx. We cannot digest this thought of the Union government”, he said adding that North East as a whole will not accept CAB.
The next course of action will be thought of later, he said.
