SHILLONG: The Khasi Students’ Union on Tuesday asserted that the Union government must think twice before passing the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament if it wants to protect the indigenous communities of the state while accusing NPP MP from Tura Agatha Sangma of betraying the people of the state.
Agatha Sangma on Monday voted for the CAB in the Lok Sabha.
Talking to media persons at Jaiaw during the NESO-sponsored North East bandh, KSU President Lambok Marngar said that the people of the state will not accept CAB.
“The positive response to the bandh call sends out the message that we cannot accept this bill”, Marngar said.
Stating that the union would discuss about taking legal recourse on the matter, he added that the movement against the bill would continue.
He said that it was the NPP-led NDA government which had adopted a resolution against CAB, but the MP from Tura surprisingly supported it.
In a statement, the KSU appealed to the indigenous people to join the agitation
of the KSU and NESO as the two organisations intend to intensify the movement against the CAB in the days to come.
KSU general secretary Donald Thabah thanked the Hynniewtrep people for supporting the bandh.
In his statement, he said the CAB will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha and if it is passed, it would take time to get the President’s assent.
In this connection, he urged the people to take part in the agitational programmes.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo Peoples (FKJGP) has demanded that regional parties should withdraw support to the MDA government as the NPP has duped the people of the state with regard to CAB.
At the end of the central executive committee of FKJGP, vice-president of FKJGP, Eldie Newton Lyngdoh, said the UDP, HSPDP, PDF and KHNAM should immediately withdraw their support.
He said they will agitate against the regional parties and it is time for them to wake up.
“We were betrayed by former chief minister Mukul Sangma who said that the Parliament will never approve of ILP. We demand that the state government should hold a special session to pass a resolution for the implementation of ILP,” he added.
He warned that in the days to come, the organisation will hold agitational programmes and will not rely on the government led by Conrad Sangma.
