SHILLONG: Two top leaders of the North East, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Assam BJP minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, are facing the wrath of social media users ever since the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was passed in Parliament.
People are venting their ire on social media with some users asking regional parties to withdraw support to the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance. The Facebook page of the Meghalaya Chief Minister’s Office is flooding with messages criticising the NPP’s move to support the bill in the Lok Sabha.
“You are playing with fire. You must pay for it,” read one message. Another message said, “It’s a shame for the people of meghalaya who were betrayed by their own CM. Congrats mr conrad sangma ur true ideologies now known by all the people of Meghalaya.”
“Money money money….. I think he has been sold…. pliz oppose CAB or else we will surely see another tripura like state in Meghalaya,” a user replied to a video of Sangma answering questions related to his government’s statement on CAB.
Many Facebook users are accusing the chief minister of betraying the state and others are saying they have lost their faith in him that he earned after leading the entire region in opposing CAB.
Sarma, who uploaded a status on Facebook on Wednesday night congratulating Narendra Modi and Amit Shah for the passage of the bill, has also drawn flak from social media users.
There were almost 10,000 comments in his particular status and most of them criticising Sarma for passing the bill. He was also accused of betraying the people of Assam while there were many who were requesting him not to implement CAB.
Many users admitted that it was their mistake to vote BJP to power in Assam and they vowed that they would not repeat the same mistake in the future.
On Thursday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and Facebook to allay fears of the people of Assam saying, “I want to assure my brothers and sisters of Assam that they have nothing to worry after the passing of #CAB. I want to assure them- no one can take away your rights, unique identity and beautiful culture. It will continue to flourish and grow.”
He was heavily criticised by many people as the post saw more than 13,000 comments. In this post, many people from the region reiterated that they do not want CAB and it should not be imposed on them.
His tweet was also trolled on Thursday as many people commented that the assurance of the Prime Minister to the people of Assam would not reach them since internet has been completely shut off.
Some have also praised Modi for passing CAB.
