Protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill rock State

Correspondents

GOLAGHAT, May 9: The activists of Brihattar Asomiya Yuba Mancha (BAYM) Golaghat district committee burnt the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday at Batapoint of Golaghat in protest against amendment of the Citizenship Bill, 2016. Activists of AJYCP shouted various slogans against the Narendra Modi-led BJP government and the Sarbananda Sonowal government for taking the decision to grant citizenship to Hindu migrants in Assam.

 Talking to the media, BAYM Golaghat committee secretary Mridul Hazarika said, “If illegal migrants are settled in Assam, the people of Assam will have to suffer a lot educationally, economically and politically.” Further, he said that the people of Assam had been carrying out continuous massive protests against the decision of the Central government to grant citizenship to illegal migrants settled in Assam. But the government had allegedly ignored public interest. The anti-Assam activities of the BJP government would never be acceptable and BAYM would continue protests until the government withdrew the decision, he added.

LAKHIMPUR: Massive protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 rocked Lakhimpur on Wednesday. Thousands of people and members of several organizations led by the Lakhimpur district unit of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) came out on the streets in North Lakhimpur town and protested against the controversial bill. Ignoring the torrential rain, the protesters shouted various slogans against the bill at the playground of North Lakhimpur Boys’ Government Higher Secondary School. Then they took out a protest rally which passed through the main thoroughfares of the town and culminated at the Deputy Commissioner’s office. The protesting organizations submitted memoranda to the Prime Minister of India through the Deputy Commissioner of Lakhimpur and demanded the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to hold hearing to elicit public and organizations’ views regarding the Bill.

“We never tolerate any move on the part of the government to provide shelter in Assam to the foreigners who came to this land after March 25, 1971. We demand to ensure constitutional safeguard to the people of Assam on the basis of Assam Accord and to scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 without any delay,” stated Loken Gogoi, the president-in-charge and Dhanmoni Dutta, the secretary of the district unit of AASU.

Dr. Hemanta Kumar Baruah, vice-president of Axam Xahitya Xabha, Krisna Das, finance secretary of the central committee of AASU, Ajit Burhagohain, district president of TAYPA and people from various parts of the district participated in the protest programme.  The protesting organizations separately submitted memorandum opposing the Bill.