Citizenship Bill: Congress to hold protests on January 24 in Arunachal

Guwahati, Jan. 22 (PTI): 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.
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.
Protests continues in Assam

Protests against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill continued on Tuesday with black flags shown to Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Barpeta district.

Twenty agitators of the AASU, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and the AJYCP were picked up for trying to block roads and showing black flags to Sarma, who had gone for a meeting with BJP workers, police said.

Student protesters held a two-hour ‘Gana Hartaal’ against the Bill in Sivasagar and stripped themselves partially, while all shops were closed and vehicles were off the road during that period.

In Nazira town of Sibsagar, the main road was blocked for some time by burning tyres demanding withdrawal of the Bill.

Members of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) took out a procession in the oil town of Digboi and later burnt the effigies of Prime Minister

Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on the national highway. The student community also held different forms of protest at various educational institutes.

Meanwhile, a delegation of JD(U) will reach the state on January 28 for a two-day visit to protest against the Bill.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs,

Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India even if they do not possess any document.