Guwahati: Though the Central government is yet to decide the date for tabling the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Parliament, an indication of it has sparked protests in Assam where leaders and activists of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and 30 allied organisations took out a massive torchlight procession that disrupted the normal life in Guwahati.
The student body asserted that Assam will not take the burden of illegal migrants coming to the state after the cut-off date fixed by the Assam Accord, and reiterated that the indigenous population of entire state was united against the Bill.
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) on Friday choked the vehicular movement in the capital city by organising massive protest called Raj Bhawan Gherao. KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi said that political rights of the indigenous people would be snatched as soon as they CAB is passed by the parliament. He called upon the people of the state to oppose CAB to save their rights.
Another group—Indigenous Forum, Assam also organised a sit-in demonstration against the CAB. The representatives from other North-Eastern states also participated in the protest and reiterated that they will not allow Parliament to pass the CAB. The protestors said that the Bill breached the clause of historic Assam Accord which states that all illegal immigrants who came to Assam from Bangladesh after 1971, irrespective of their religion, are to be detected and deported.
Student organisations and ethnic groups representing various indigenous communities of the state too have extended their full support to the movement. It is significant that proposed CAB has the cut of date of December 31, 2014 implying that anyone who has entered Assam till this date would be granted citizenship.
