Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has appealed the regional forces to unite against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
Taking to the micro-blogging site on December 1st, 2019, Gogoi asked that if parties of different ideologies can come together for the common good of Maharashtra, why can’t the same happen in Northeast India?
“Citizenship Amendment threatens to divide us and put people at risk. My appeal to regional forces, put people first and politics behind,” the Lok Sabha MP from Kaliabor tweeted.
The Northeast is witnessing second wave of protests and shutdown against the Centre’s decision to re-introduce the controversial Bill in the going Winter Session of the Parliament. Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said that the Centre will attempt to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament by December 10th, 2019.
In the wake of protests, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 30th, 2019 held discussion with leaders of political parties, students bodies and civil society groups of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya on the contours of the proposed Bill.
As per several media reports, areas protected by the Inner Line Permit and states protected by the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution may be exempted from the ambit of the Bill.
Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the Congress will continue to protest against the Bill. While addressing a presser in Guwahati on November 30th, 2019, Ramesh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah of using the Bill and Nation Register of Citizens to divert people’s attention from the burning issues of the country.
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.
Photo credit: @GauravGogoiAsm
