Guwahati: Amid a huge furore over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Assam, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) on Wednesday warned the BJP that if the Bill passes in the Rajya Sabha, party leaders “will not be able to move freely” in the state.

During a protest rally in Guwahati led by AASU and 30 other ethnic organisations in the state against the Citizenship Bill, the student organisation threatened to take stern action against the saffron party.

Over 10,000 protesters took part in the rally, which was named ‘Bajra Ninad’ (scream with the intensity of thunder); as they shouted slogans against the BJP, and both the central and state government.

Lurin Jyoti Gogoi , the general secretary of AASU, said that the BJP-led Union government must scrap the Citizenship Bill, otherwise, AASU and other 30 ethnic organisations will take strict action against the BJP and will impose a ban on their movement in the state.
 


 

“The Assam government is involved to create a conspiracy against the people of the state. If they want to nullify our democratic movement, then the people of Assam, AASU and 30 other ethnic organisations will be bound to ban their movement in the state,” Gogoi said.

The protesters had raised their voices against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill during the protest rally and said that they will not accept this Bill at any cost.

The advisor of AASU, Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya said, “In our country, citizens can’t be determined on the basis of religion, so the Citizenship Amendment Bill is a communal, unconstitutional Bill.”

“According to the Assam Accord, those who have entered into Assam after 1971, Hindus or Muslims, must be deported. They had forcefully passed the Bill in Lok Sabha, disrespecting the sentiments of the people of Assam and Northeast. Now they are preparing to pass the Bill in Rajya Sabha. We have warned both the Centre and state government not to pass this Bill. 

The entire Northeast is now agitating, shouting, crying and everybody opposing this Bill. Assam and Northeast are not dumping grounds of illegal Bangladeshis. They are trying to marginalise the sentiments and rights of the indigenous people of Assam and the Northeast. We will not accept it. 

The movement is on in Assam and the Northeast region and vigorous movement will continue. It is a question of our identity, language, the culture of the indigenous people of Assam and Northeast. They are trying to destroy it, marginalise it, and for that, the movement is on. We will not spare anybody of the ruling party,” Bhattacharya said.

Apart from AASU and 30 other ethnic organisations, Asom Sahitya Sabha, editors of several newspapers, television channels, singers, and cultural activists of the state also took part in the protest rally.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 has already been passed in Lok Sabha and is aimed to grant Indian citizenship to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.