Neso, KMSS to protest against Citizenship Bill before and during Parliament winter session

Guwahati, Dec. 7 (PTI): The North East Students’ Organisation(NESO) and the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) who are opposing the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 have decided to launch protests against it before and during the coming winter session of the Parliament.

The NESO, comprising the leading students organisations of the seven north eastern states, have taken the decision to protest against the Bill before the Parliament when it is in session on December 19, its advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya told reporters here on Friday.

“We cannot allow the bill to be passed at any cost and we will continue to protest against it as Northeast is not a dumping ground for illegal Bangladeshis”, he said.

The bill, he said, violates the historic Assam Accord of 1985 and threatens to nullify the ongoing process of preparing the updated National Register of Citizens in Assam.

“The Centre must realise none of the north east states are alone. All the seven states of Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Nagaland are united in our fight to protect our identity, language and culture”, he asserted.

The KMSS along with 69 other indigeneous and supporting organisations will stage indefinite hunger strike in New Delhi from December 9, ahead of the Parliament winter session demanding the scrapping of the Bill.

“The BJP government is misleading the people, have gone against the constitution and has threatened the very identity of the indigenous people of the state if it is passed by the Parliament”, KMSS chief Akhil Gogoi told reporters here.

Two teams have already left for Delhi to take participated in the hunger strike and another team will leave by tomorrow, Gogoi added.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 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.