AASU, NESO fire warning shot asking not to alienate indigenous people of Northeast

‘Don’t make mistake of alienating NE further by forcibly passing the Citizenship Bill’

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: As its warning shot, the AASU and the NESO have told the Centre not to make the mistake of alienating the indigenous people of the Northeast from the rest of the country further by passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, forcibly.

The leaders of the two students’ organizations and political parties from the Northeast went into a huddle at New Delhi to chalk out a strategy to confront the situation arising out of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. The meeting appealed to Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to lead the Northeast from the front against the controversial Bill.

Talking to The Sentinel, AASU president Dipanko Kumar Nath said: “We’ve fired our warning shot. We’ve asked the Centre not to make the mistake of alienating the indigenous people of the Northeast from the rest of India further by forcibly passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.”

Meanwhile on Tuesday too, the leaders of the AASU and the NESO met leaders of various national and regional parties and appealed to them to reject the Citizenship Bill through voting.

Assuring full support of his party to the interests of the Northeast, Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral said: “We’ve a soft corner with the people of the Northeast. We’ll fight against the Bill so as to protect the interests of the Northeast.”

The student leaders from the region met leaders of the JD(U), including KC Tyagi, on Tuesday also. The AASU and NESO leaders have been trying hard to drive home before various political parties that the problem of foreigners is not of Assam and the Northeast alone. They said that the current situation demands all parties to team up and fight against the Bill.

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