To scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 pressure on the Narendra Modi government ..... Assam rallies start to seek citizen bill scrap

The Sankalp rally at Digboi in Tinsukia.

RISHU KALANTRIAND MUKESH KUMAR SINGH, TT, 13 Nov 2018, Tinsukia: Thousands of people started marches to Dispur from different places in Assam on Sunday to pile pressure on the Narendra Modi government to scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

Spearheaded by 70 organisations led by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), the processions will cover the entire Assam before converging in Dispur on November 16.

The Sankalp rallies were launched from Tinsukia, Dhubri, Karbi Anglong and Dhemaji districts.

Assam has seen a series of protests in the past few months following reports that the Centre would push the bill in the winter session of Parliament.

The bill seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians and Buddhists who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before December 31, 2014, fearing religious persecution.

The rallies are taken out ahead of the panchayat elections on December 5 and 14.

Besides the KMSS, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and All Assam Students' Union (AASU) are at the forefront of the opposition against the bill. The AGP, an ally of the BJPled state government, too opposes the bill.

KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi kick-started the rally from B. Lachit Stadium in Chapakh- owa, around 20km east of Dr Bhupen Hazarika Setu in Tinsukia district. The march has around 2,000 protesters on 1,000 motorcycles.

Addressing the protesters, Akhil said: "Assam is not a dumping ground of illegal Ba- ngladeshis. Illegal migrants must not be differentiated on the basis of religion. It will violate the very idea of secularism. The bill will open a floodgate of migration of Hindu Bengalis from neighbouring Bangladesh to Assam and the legal entry will affect the socio-economic fabric of the state." Protesters halted at various small towns and delivered brief speeches against the bill.

"We will not take Bangladeshis in Assam. It is time to say `bye' to the BJP and the RSS. Acche din, videshi kheda kotha koisile kintu kora nai (They spoke of good times and throwing out foreigners, but they did nothing). We will gherao the Janta Bhavan to make the government hear our concern and take action. If they still choose to ignore sentiments of local people, we will start a mass resistance movement from the next day," said Akhil.

In Karbi Anglong, the protesters assembled in the heart of Diphu town. After a brief meeting, they started the rally on motorbikes and private vehicles.

In lower Assam's Dhubri district, the AJYCP led the rally.

Hemen Chakraborty, incharge president of the central committee of the AJYCP, said AASU, KMSS, the All Koch Rajbongshi Students' Union (AKRSU), All Assam Minorities Students' Union (AAMSU) and more than 50 other ethnic organisations joined the rally at Public Field of Bilasipara town in Dhubri around 11.30am.

The AJYCP demanded that Dispur clear its stand on the bill.

At Jonai in Dhemaji district, the joint secretary, central committee of Atasu, Dulal Baruah, said the bill would have an adverse impact on the demography of Assam, besides the language and culture of the indigenous tribes. He appealed to people from all walks of life to sternly oppose the bill.

Additional reporting by Vinod Kumar in Dhemaji Singh and Sarat Sarma in Nagaon.