Cong to hold protests against CAB on Jan 24 in Arunachal

The Congress in Arunachal Pradesh will hold demonstrations across the state and a protest rally here on January 24 against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, senior state party leader said Tuesday.

Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Takam Sanjoy called the Bill, which was initiated by the NDA government at the Centre and passed in Lok Sabha on January 8, "discriminatory, communal, undemocratic, arbitrary and draconian".

The state, he claimed, is facing refugee problem and would be the worst hit when the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is enacted.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any document.

Congress workers, he said, would march through the main thoroughfare of the state capital which would culminate in front of the civil secretariat.

Sanjoy asked the party workers to ensure distribution of copies of the Bill in offices and to the people, even in villages for bringing mass awareness.