GUWAHATI: As the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is raging in Assam much to the discomfort of the BJP-led government, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said that he would not betray the people who had imposed so much trust on him.
He stated that he was here to establish peace in Assam following the path shown by legendary musician Late Bhupen Hazarika and Hemanga Biswas.
“The people of Assam have made me a chief minister with lots of trust and confidence. I am not here to betray the Assamese race. I shall work for the development of Assam till the last moment,” said Sonowal while addressing a meeting at Dhubri in Assam on Wednesday.
“Only we can protect the Assamese race, time will prove it. I have seen governments have come and gone in the past. I have not taken the responsibility of Chief Minister just to become a Chief Minister. I am here to establish peace in Assam following the ideologies of Dr Bhupen Hazarika and Hemanga Biswas,” Sonowal said.
The protest against the Bill that has been rife in Assam for quite some time, has got intensified after the BJP-led government got the Bill passed in Lok Sabha on January 8 last.
The protest has now spilled to other Northeastern states especially Meghalaya and Manipur where both political and apolitical parties have hit the streets against the Bill demanding its withdrawal as the it posed ‘threat’ to the indigenous communities.
Government of Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland have informed the Centre about the strong opposition being registered against the Bill in their respective states.
A whiff of discontentment within the ruling BJP party in Assam over the Bill has come to the fore with three of its legislators, Rituparna Baruah, Padma Hazarika and Atul Bora airing their opposition to the Bill in the wake of loud mass protest in the state.
