Outrage over Citizenship (Amendment) Bill at mass convention

A Correspondent

JORHAT, May 26: Over 1,000 people took part in the mass convention organized by the Asom Astityo Rakhya Samannya Samiti at the premises of Jorhat Stadium on Saturday.

Representatives of 25 organizations also took part in the convention, along with people from places like Majuli, Sivasagar, Mariani, Teok, Dergaon, Titabor and Amguri. People took oath not to allow illegal Bangladeshis into the State of Assam at the convention.

Prominent leaders from various organizations included Akhil Gogoi, Polash Changmai, Pradip Nag, Dhiraj Gowala, Raj Kumar Pranab Narayan, Aboni Chetia, Horin Mahanta, Niranjan Mahanta and Sudipto Narayan Goswami. They all expressed their views on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

"The Centre is trying to make Assam a dumping ground for illegal Bangladeshis. This will be a big threat for the entire State and region," said Pradip Nag, the general secretary of Adivasi Students' Union. Most of the leaders who attended the convention slammed jatiya nayak Sarbananda Sonowal who was trying to sell off Assam by welcoming the Hindu Bangladeshis. "The Chief Minister is a puppet," said Nag.

Akhil Gogoi, adviser of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) reiterated that the citizenship bill was a threat to Assam and the identity of the Assamese people. He said that Sarbananda Sonowal should be boycotted, as in Dibrugarh University and Gauhati University.