The Sivasagar district unit of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) protested against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central Government’s move to grant Indian citizenship to illegal migrants, including Hindu Bangladeshis.
Holding a demonstration in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Sivasagar on Saturday, AASU demanded immediate withdrawal of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, constitutional safeguard to the indigenous people of Assam on the basis of the Assam Accord, implementation of the Assam Accord and sealing of India-Bangladesh border.
The protesters also shouted slogans like ‘Denounce the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016’, ‘Hindu Bangladeshis Go Back’ and ‘BJP Government hai-hai’ during the protest.
Speaking at the protest rally, AASU leader Manik Gogoi said, “The Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP government came to power in Assam riding on promises of change. But, surprisingly nothing has changed in the last two years. The illegal Bangladeshis are supposed to leave the State, it did not happen. The indigenous people are supposed to get constitutional safeguard, again, nothing happened.”
Members of the district committee of AASU, along with 28 other indigenous organizations with the agitators numbering around 1,000, also demanded the arrest of any government representative, especially Shiladitya Dev, who was making unsavoury remarks that could lead to communal unrest in the otherwise harmonious Assamese society.
