TURA: Dozens of youth congress members marched to the BJP office in Tura on Friday afternoon and raised slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Bill that paves the way for persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to be given citizenship in India.
The agitators also burnt effigies of Prime minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah outside the BJP office.
“People from the entire north East had raised objections to the Citizenship Amendment Bill tabled by the BJP in Parliament and despite a total shutdown of the region in protest against the bill, yet it was allowed to be passed in the Lok Sabha by the central government over-riding the sentiments of the people of the North East,” said Meghalaya Youth Congress President Richard Marak to The Shillong Times.
Youth Congress activists carrying banners and shouting slogans surrounded the BJP office at Bokmagre, outskirts of Tura, and lashed out at the saffron party accusing it of playing with the sentiments of the people of the region.
“Save North East, Save India” and “BJP Go Back” were some of the slogans and banners raised by the youth congress activists during the protest outside the national party’s office in Tura.
Earlier in the day, blag flags to protest the Citizenship Amendment Bill were witnessed fluttering atop several public vehicles, including auto rickshaws, moving in and around Tura town.
The Congress and opposition parties in the region are apprehensive that the bill could pave the way for widespread influx from neighbouring Bangladesh into the borderline states, particularly Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram among other states.
