AAPSU stages protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

Our correspondent

Itanagar, May 21: The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) on Monday staged a sit-in demonstration against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 at I G Park Tenis Court here under the aegis of North East Students’ Organization (NESO).

Various students’ bodies of the State including political party joined the demonstration expressing dismay and anguish over the proposed legislation, which aims to grant citizenship to people from minority communities- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, after six years of residence in India.

This is the second phase of the agitation after the NESO along with its constituent organizations had earlier on May 12 staged a massive protest on the banks of Dighalipukhuri in Guwahati, demanding scrapping of the controversial Bill.

Informing that AAPSU will organize more democratic movements under the aegis of NESO in near future against the contentious Bill, AAPSU President Hawa Bagang said the Centre has not done the needful to understand the problems and the aspirations of the people from the State as well as the region.

“The proposed Bill is one among the latest examples that the lawmakers in our country have no or very little regards for the indigenous populace of Arunachal Pradesh and the entire North East region in general,” Bagang added.

He said as fallout of the NRC process in neighbouring Assam, more than 100 Rohingya Muslims were detected and deported from Longding district of the State recently.

“We will soon serve notices to all the Bangladeshis residing in the State to leave and remain outside the State till the NRC process in Assam is over to identify the genuine migrants. Moreover, we cautioned the people of the State who have Chakma and Hajong refugees as servants in their houses to send them back or else the AAPSU will take its own course of action,” Bagang said.

While urging the State government to work for the interest of the State, the AAPSU president further demanded the Election Commission to delete all the names of Chakma and Hajong refugees from the electoral rolls.

Later talking to reporters, AAPSU general secretary Tabom Dai said that the union along with its federal units was totally against the Bill as they feel that the Bill is against the interest of the indigenous people of the State as well as the region.

“The attitude of the successive governments at the Centre is that there is no States beyond West Bengal which is very ‘unfortunate’,” he said and added that the Northeast region cannot be treated as a dumping ground.

Dai, who had also briefed Chief Minister Pema Khandu recently about the union’s stand on the Bill, appealed to take a clear stand for the interest of the people of the State.

Meanwhile, the AAPSU also submitted a memorandum to State Governor Brig (Retd) Dr BD Mishra during the day.