Guwahati, Feb. 2 (PTI): The Assam government on Saturday appealed to all groups, organisations and political parties to be peaceful and “dignified” in their agitation against the contentious citizenship bill.
Protests have rocked the state since the bill’s passage in the Lok Sabha and on Friday activists of the peasant organisation Kisan Mazdoor Sangram Samiti held a nude protest outside the Assam Secretariat.
Chief secretary Alok Kumar told a press conference here that it is the responsibility of the leaders to keep the movement peaceful.
“The state is passing through a stage which is challenging... We are a mature democracy. We can understand the aspirations and concerns of the people”, he said.
Without making any direct reference to the KMSS protest, Kumar said “We have observed certain deviations of late. The government feels that we have to try to be as tolerant and as dignified in our conduct as possible.”
“It is very important to observe the accepted democratic procedures because as a society we owe it to the next generation, our children and the young, who have impressionable minds,” he said.
The chief secretary said they looked up to the older people as role models and the way they conducted themselves in public affected the children’s thinking and behaviour.
“Some of the aspects like trying to take off clothes and protesting may not be the best way to draw attention in a matured society,” Kumar added.
Stressing on dignified conduct, he said “We must respect each other. It is very important that this discourse not degenerate into violent behaviour on the streets.”
Otherwise, the situation would become much more difficult. It might go out of the control of organisers and groups and even of law and order authorities.
“It is very important to avoid this and take a step back when such occasions arise,” the chief secretary said.
Kumar said the protest against the bill has been peaceful so far and hoped it continues to be so as the general elections are due in the next two to three months.
“Our present assessment is that the situation is peaceful but challenging. On a scale of one to ten, it is slowly progressing”.
Police said the nude protest was held by three KMSS activists who were arrested and added that necessary measures were taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
Stressing that a free and fair atmosphere is important for expressing opinions, Kumar said “let us maintain a peaceful and healthy environment and express our opinions in peaceful dignified and acceptable manner.”
Director general of Police Kuladhar Saikia, who was also present at the meet, said the law and order situation in the state was not out of control. He said the police was impartial and had strongly acted against law breakers.
‘NDA forced not to pursue Citizenship Bill due to JD (U) opposition’
JD (U) General Secretary and party in-charge for the Northeast, Afaque Ahmed Khan, on Saturday said that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance(NDA) is forced not to pursue the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 due to strong opposition raised by his party.
The contentious Bill that has led to a series of protests in different northeastern states, including Assam, was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8. The Bill now awaits approval of the Rajya Sabha to become an Act.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 was not listed for the ongoing session of the Upper House so far.
“JD (U) national President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was the first political party leader to oppose the Bill and supported the protests against the Bill in the northeastern states,” said Khan in a statement issued here.
“Nitish Kumar assured his strong opposition to the Bill when the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) delegation met him. The JD (U) took a resolution on July 8, 2018, to oppose the Bill,” he said, adding that the party opposes the Bill for the well-being of the people of the Northeast.
Slamming political parties of the Northeast for opposing the Citizenship Bill, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has said infiltration is a problem for the nation and the bill is meant to address the issue.
Deb, while speaking to reporters on Friday night, said the political parties of the northeastern region is giving the impression that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 has been prepared for the region alone, which is not true.
The parties of the region are deliberately misleading the people to serve their own interests, he alleged.
“The way some political parties in the northeastern region have been agitating against the bill, it appears that it has been prepared and passed in the Lok Sabha only for northeast India.
“We need to understand that the bill was introduced in the Parliament, keeping in mind the interests of the whole country,” Deb told reporters at the Civil Secretariat here.
He also said that every individual or political party has the right to agitate or organise movement against any decision of the government on the basis of facts and figures, but there was an attempt to mislead people about the aims and objectives of the bill by some political parties.
Deb said infiltration is a major problem for the country and metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai are the worst affected. Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have been facing the problem of illegal immigration as is the northeast.
The bill would help check infiltration, he said.
