TURA: The Congress party on Monday began its protest against the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) at the centre by donning black badges. Former Chief Minister, Mukul Sangma initiated the black badge protest by putting badges on party leaders and other members during a press briefing held at the Congress Bhavan in Tura.
Speaking to media persons during the briefing, Sangma termed the day as the ‘darkest moment’ in the history of the region as the Centre forcefully passed the contentious bill despite stiff opposition from all quarters.
“We have been opposed to the CAB since the very beginning. The whole of North East, including political parties, organizations and different groups have been opposed to the bill. However, today our voices have been ignored and the centre has forcefully passed this bill,” Sangma said.
Sangma said that earlier when it was first introduced, the bill could not be passed at the centre as the BJP led government did not have the majority. However, once the party came to power, it has been brought back posing a threat to the survival of the indigenous people.
Sangma also accused the BJP government of trying to mislead the people of the North East by saying that the bill will have no ramifications in Sixth Schedule areas and places where ILP is present. However, he cautioned the people not to believe the lies of the BJP saying the passing of the bill will result in humanitarian crisis in the region.
“Illegal citizens can be made permanent citizens from anywhere. And once they get permanent citizenship, they will come to the North East because of demography,” Sangma warned.
Sangma cautioned that once the people become silent, the centre will construe it as people’s acceptance of the bill and urged people to jointly raise their voice against it.
“We must be united against the bill. Today we have started our black badge protest and we must keep on raising our voices until it reaches New Delhi,” Sangma urged.