Will take tough stand if Bill passed: AGP president Atul Bora

GUWAHATI: Minutes before the JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) meeting on Tuesday, AGP president Atul Bora said that the regional party will take a tough stand if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 is passed. Bora also said that the Bill, if passed, will make the Assam Accord and the NRC (National Register of Citizens) redundant.

Talking to The Sentinel, Bora said: “The Assamese language and culture have already been in dire strait. The Bill, if gets its passage, will spell doom for our language and culture. The sacrifice of the over 855 Assam Agitation Martyrs will go in vain. The Assam Accord and the NRC will be redundant. We’ve already shouldered the burden of the Bangladeshis who entered Assam till March 24, 1971. There’s no question of Assam shouldering the burden of any more Bangladeshis now.”

Meanwhile, an AGP team comprising Bora, Keshab Mahanta, Phani Bhushan Choudhury and a few others met JPC chairman Rajendra Agarwal on Tuesday again a few minutes before JPC meet in the Parliament House. They requested the JPC chairman and other members of the Committee to submit their report to the Parliament in the interest of the people of Assam. They made it clear before the JPC members that the demography has changed a lot in Assam, and if the Bill is passed the demography in the State will be detrimental for the survival of the indigenous people of the State on their own land. “Under no circumstances, we’re going to accept the passage of the Bill,” the AGP team told the JPC.

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