Dispur MLA tells 29 ethnic bodies that he’ll oppose Citizenship Bill

GUWAHATI: The statement made by BJP’s Dispur MLA Atul Bora has projected the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 as an acid test for Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to prove if he deserves the honour of Jatiya Nayak from all in the State.

The Dispur MLA was vocal against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on Sunday when leaders of the AASU and 28 other ethnic organizations of the State handed him their daabi potro (demand letter) with a plea to oppose the Bill. The indigenous organizations kicked off their door-to-door campaign against the Citizenship Bill to persuade people’s representatives of the State to oppose it. They went to the Hatigarh residence of Bora in the city with the demand letter.

Accepting the demand letter, Bora said before the media: “The Chief Minister is called jatiya nayak, but he has to prove it by opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. The honour (Jatiya Nayak) was given to him by the AASU. If he opposes the Bill now, the honour of jatiya nayak will be seen as given by the people of Assam, not by the AASU alone. It’s high time Sonowal proved that he deserves the honour bestowed on him. He should oppose the Bill.”

Bora further said: “I’ve been opposing the Bill right from the word go, and will continue to oppose it. I’m not apprehensive of my political career. Let my party take any decision it wants on the Bill, but I’ll oppose it.”

On their part, leaders of the 29 ethnic organizations said that the Assam Accord is the outcome of the historic Assam Agitation that was signed some 33 years back. They rued the fact that during the past 33 years the various political parties ruled Assam and the country with diverse political alignments, but none of the ruling formations did anything tangible to implement the prime clauses of the Accord. The problem of foreigners is still serious in the State, they said, and added anybody entering Assam after March 24, 1971 will have to be deported from the State, regardless of his/her faith.

The leaders of the ethnic bodies also met AGP’s Lakhimpur MLA Utpal Dutta, BJP’s Bihpuria MLA Debananda Hazarika and AIUDF’s Naoboicha MLA Mamon Imdadul Haque Choudhury and handed them their daabi potro against the Bill.

AASU president Dipanko Kumar Nath, general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi and leaders of 28 ethnic groups said that their campaign against the Bill would continue.