Asom Gana Parishad MLA Utpal Dutta stages fast to oppose Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: Utpal Dutta, MLA of No. 111 Lakhimpur LAC, along with other 14 AGP MLAs of the State, staged a 10-hour long fast on Thursday to strongly oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

Initiating the protest programme at Tyag Kshetra of North Lakhimpur town, the MLA demanded the immediate scrapping of the Bill which was a ‘tremendous threat’ to the demographic existence of the indigenous people of the State, Assamese culture as well as Assamese culture. He came down heavily against the adamant stand of the BJP-led Union Government taken in order to pass the Bill in the Parliament. “If the Bill is once passed, over 1.90 crore Bangladeshi nationals will change the demographic structure of the State,” he said.

The MLA criticized Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and hoped good conscience would prevail on him. “What is the root cause of the Chief Minister’s stand in favour of the contentious Bill at a time when the Meghalaya and Manipur Chief Ministers have strongly opposed the same? I hope he develops a conscience in this regard,” he stated. He added that the BJP had sponsored shrewd politics with the Bill in order to regain power in the upcoming elections.

During the protest, he was assisted by Lakhimpur district president Jivan Rajkhowa, secretaries Biren Borah, Dipak Bordaloi, central committee secretaries Achyut Saikia, Jayanta Khaond, AGP leaders Deuti Das, Prema Baruah and 400 grassroots workers of the party. Academician Dr Manoranjan Pandit and Lakhimpur District Pensioners’Association president Keshab Bhuyan broke his fast with a glass of fruit juice at 4 pm.

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