Left students bodies demand withdrawal of citizenship bill

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, Feb 3: The Students Federation of India, All India Students Federation (AISF), Democratic Students’ Youth Forum and Mooktidoot today organized a protest meet on the bank of Dighalipukhuri here demanding withdrawal of Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 and completion of NRC update work on the basis of Assam Accord.  Addressing the meeting, a number of speakers vehemently criticized the BJP led Union Government for the proposal of the amendment move of the Citizenship Act.  Terming the move as commul, they said that RSS dictated its plan on BJP government to settle the Hindu Bangladeshis in Assam which will destroy Assam and Assamese tiolity.  They said that Assamese tiolity is not based on commulism. “BJP’s commul politics must be stopped at any cost in Assam where century old commul unity strengthened the Assamese tiolity,” the speakers added.  The proposed 2016 Amendment Bill of the Citizenship Act 1955 – currently under consideration of the Joint Select Committee of the Parliament – will make illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship. It is, however, required of the applicant to have resided in India during the last 12 months, and for 11 of the previous 14 years. The Bill, however, relaxes this 11 year requirement to six years for persons belonging to the same six religions and three countries. The Bill would also violate the fundamental of Assam Accord of 1985, where the illegal migrants who had entered Assam from Bangladesh after 25 March, 1971, were to be extradited. The four organizations have also demanded publication of draft NRC by March 31, 2017.