Will violate orders if bill not withdrawn: Ex-Assam CM

Guwahati: A day after protests were banned in parts of Guwahati, former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said Friday he would violate the prohibitory order and court arrest if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was not withdrawn by the Centre. Addressing a press conference, Gogoi added that if protests or disturbances continue in the state, youths are likely to get attracted towards insurgency. “I will violate (Section) 144 (of the Code of Criminal Procedure) if you (Centre) do not withdraw the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. I will lead people and shout slogans. I will go to jail – a jail bharo (movement),” he asserted. The bill will not only affect Assam but threaten the entire country’s unity and culture, Gogoi claimed. By completely prohibiting all sorts of protests, the BJP-led government is curtailing the democratic rights of people and running the state in an autocratic manner, the senior Congress leader said. “Before bringing the bill, why was no attempt made to have discussion by the government with all stakeholders? Even after protests started, the government could have talked. (Former prime minister) Indira Gandhi had herself come to talk when the Assam agitation was on,” he said. In view of protests on a daily basis against the bill, the Guwahati police Thursday banned all sorts of agitation in parts of Guwahati under Section 144 of the CrPC. (PTI)