CPI-M, student body to boycott PM's programme in Tripura; AASU, 70 orgs. to stage protests

Agartala, Feb. 8 (IANS): Three CPI-M MPs and the Tripura Student Federation (TSF) on Friday said they would boycott Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Saturday programme in Tripura in protest against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. The TSF is part of the North-East Students Organisation (NESO), which is spearheading agitations in the entire northeastern region excluding Sikkim against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Two Lok Sabha members -- Jitendra Chaudhury and Shankar Prasad Datta -- and a Rajya Sabha member Jharna Das Baidya, all belonging to the opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist, announced the boycott of the Prime Minister's programme in Tripura. "The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, if enacted into a law, would grossly harm the cause of the north-eastern region in future and fracture the secular fabric of the country. The bill has been conceived against the spirit of our Constitution," the MPs said in a joint statement on Friday. Respecting the genuine sentiments and anguish of the people of this country in general and the northeast region in particular, the bill must be withdrawn, the MPs said. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly opposed the boycott call, urging the government to take stern action if any individual or organisation tries to disturb the Prime Minister's tour. The TSF's advisor and NESO Vice Chairman Upendra Debbarma told the media that they are urging the people protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to not attend any event of the Prime Minister on Saturday. "We would not organise any physical demonstration on Saturday. NESO constituent in Arunachal Pradesh -- All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union -- would also organise a suitable agitation programme in its state on the same issue," Debbarma told the media. BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharjee said that people of the state have already boycotted those who gave the call to boycott the Prime Minister's trip to Tripura. "A record number of people would attend the PM's public rally here on Saturday," he said. The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and 70 social organisations announced on Friday that they would show black flags and hold stir against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit in protest against the citizenship bill. Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) chief Akhil Gogoi, who is at the forefront of the protests against the controversial bill, said Modi's visit here on Saturday, would be observed as a 'Black Day' across the state and members of 70 organisations would show black flags to him. The KMSS leader said the Bharatiya Janata Party's position in the country was not good and their strategy was to get maximum seats from West Bengal and the Northeast. That is why, he added, that the saffron party had taken the route of the citizenship bill. Gogoi was among the three against whom sedition cases were registered by the Assam police for their remarks against the citizenship bill. Two others who faced sedition charges were Assamese litterateur Hiren Gohain and senior journalist Manjit Mahanta. Modi is visiting Assam for the first time after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8.