Akhil Gogoi-Led KMSS Stages Protest Against CAB in Assam

Guwahati: Right to Information activist Akhil Gogoi-led Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) on Friday staged a protest here against the proposed tabling of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 during the Winter session of the Parliament.

The KMSS organised its 'Raj Bhavan Chalo' agitation to submit a memorandum to the governor against the Bill for forwarding it to the President.

The Indigenous Forum, Assam, led by ULFA (pro-talk) faction leaders Anup Chetia and Mrinal Hazarika and human rights activist Lachit Bordoloi staged a separate sit-in against the Bill.

Speaking to reporters, Gogoi said, "Under no circumstance can the anti-indigenous people CAB be accepted by our state as 1.9 crore Hindu Bangladeshis will come to Assam and threaten the existence of the Assamese language besides taking up the jobs, rendering the local people unemployed."

Gogoi expressed fears that due to opposition of the state governments of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh to the Bill, it will be imposed on Assam and Tripura.

Sahitya Akademi awardee Dr Hiren Gohain, who was part of the KMSS agitation, said, "An attempt is being made by the Centre to divide Assam on religious lines...till our last drop of blood, we will oppose CAB which is against the interest of the indigenous people of the state."

Protests against the Bill have been raging in Assam over the past week, with activists of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) along with 30 ethnic students' organisations organising rallies across the state on Thursday evening.

Speaking to reporters, AASU Chief Advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya had asserted, "Assam is not a dustbin for illegal Bangladeshis. Under the Assam Accord, 1985, we have already accepted the Bangladeshis who came here illegally till March, 1971. Now, attempts are being made to thrust more Bangladeshis upon us through the CAB."

Bhattacharya alleged that the BJP was trying to polarise the society on religious lines.

"It is time that the indigenous people of Assam take a stand. Communal sentiments will never prevail in the state...only the will of the indigenous people shall prevail," he said.

Protests against the CAB erupted in Assam on Monday, with the North East Students Organisation (NESO), its constituent AASU, and other organisations such as the Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad and Left-Democratic Mancha, Assam, separately staging protest rallies and sit-ins.

The CAB seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8 but could not be introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

The Bill is proposed to be tabled in Parliament during its Winter session, said state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.