AGP parliamentarians’ support to CAA unfortunate: Prafulla Kumar Mahanta

A Correspondent

TANGLA: Former Assam Chief Minister and an MLA of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Prafulla Kumar Mahanta on Friday visited the bereaved family members of Ishwar Nayak in Majuli TE along the Indo-Bhutan border in Udalguri district. Nayak died as a result of a bullet injury sustained during an anti-CAA protest recently.

Mahanta appealed to the government to grant ex-gratia compensation to the victims of anti-CAA protests in Assam. He said, “We exhort the government that instead of adopting repressive measures on the people of Assam, it should have resolved the situation and withdrawn the implementation of the Act.”

Mahanta after visiting the family members of Ishwar Nayak met AGP party workers at Pankaj Sarma’s residence at Tangla town under Tangla police station in the Udalguri district.

Talking to The Sentinel, Mahanta expressed his dismay over the decision of AGP parliamentarians to vote in favor of the Citizenship Amendment Act while it was being passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and said it was unfortunate that they voted in favor of the Citizenship Amendment Act and for their act, the AGP as a whole should not be held responsible by the people of Assam.

Mahanta, while referring to comments in the media by Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen who called Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statements on the condition of religious minorities in Bangladesh as ‘unwarranted as well as untrue’, stated that it was a fact that there had been no religious persecution on minority communities of Bangladesh in recent times.

Mahanta also took a dig at the saffron party leaders of Assam and said, “Though Assam should have been the frontrunner in opposing the Act, some other States of the Northeast, including Meghalaya, have been leading in opposing the CAA.”

While referring to the implementation of Clause 6 of the historic Assam Accord of 1985, he said if foreign immigrants were granted citizenship by the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), how could Clause 6 protect the rights of indigenous people of Assam? “I have been vehemently opposing the CAA from its inception in 2015 and I stand firm with my decision,” said Mahanta.

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