Protests against CAB in NE states

Protests were held in the north eastern states on Monday opposing the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were burnt in Assam.

The protest rallies coincided with the first day of the winter session of Parliament during which the bill is proposed to be introduced.

Sit-ins were also launched in various places of Guwahati and effigies of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal were burnt by youth organisation AJYCP in different parts of the state as a mark of protest against the CAB.

The protests were held by the North East Students Organisation (NESO), the region's umbrella organisation of students unions, its constituents, farmers' body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, youth body Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and Left-Democratic Mancha, Assam among others.

NESO submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah against CAB through the governors of the north eastern states.

The NESO and AASU along with other organisations took out a large rally from its headquarters at Uzan Bazar in Guwahati to the Raj Bhawan shouting slogans and waving banners and placards against the CAB.

"Assam and the north east are not dumping grounds for illegal Bangladeshis. As per the Assam Accord we have already accepted all Bangladeshis - both Hindu and Muslims who entered Assam illegally upto 1971. We will not accept those who entered Assam after that year," NESO and AASU chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharyya said.

"The central government is trying to impose on Assam all the illegal Bangladeshis who entered the country in the next 43 years by fixing the cut off year as 2014. We won't accept that. We oppose it," he iterated.

"This movement in Assam and the north east region will continue", he asserted.

Commenting on the contention of Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other BJP leaders that a lot of problems will be solved if the CAB is enacted, Bhattacharya said "The Bill will safeguard the vote bank of BJP. They(BJP) want the votes of illegal Bangladeshis. They have the numbers in Delhi (Parliament) and they will impose the CAB on us.

"We will not accept CAB and that is why we have launched our agitation against the Bill," he added.

AASU president Dipanka Nath said, "The CAB is the death knell for the Assamese community. It will make the Assamese people extinct. It will open the door for more Bangladeshis to enter Assam."