Protests in Assam by students of several institutions opposing the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill have intensified as the Centre is all set to table the Bill during the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament.

On December 3rd, 2019, the students of the Bhattadev University (BU) in Pathsala, Barpeta along with the activists of the All Assam Students Union protested against the Bill by laying down on the road in front of the campus.

Holding placards, the protesters shouted slogans against the bill, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the BJP-led both Central and state governments. The students also burnt the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sonowal.

“The people of Assam will not accept this unconstitutional and communal Bill. The entry of Ministers, MLAs, supporting the Bill is banned on our campus,” said Arnab Barma, general secretary, BU Post Graduate Students’ Union.

The protesting students said, “This Bill is a threat to the culture and heritage of Assam. We demand the government to scrap the Bill immediately.”

The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to the people belonging to the Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis who have become the victims of religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and entered India on or before December 31st, 2014.

The students of several premier educational institutions of the state including Gauhati University, Dibrugarh University, Cotton University continued their protests against the Bill. The students of the Dibrugarh University has ‘banned’ the entry of Sonowal in his alma mater.

Inputs and photo: Mrinmay Pathak