Assam CM faces ban on entry into alma mater
As the statewide protest is gaining momentum every day, the discontent has spilled over to neighbouring Tripura as well.
Guwahati: In what has come as a major embarrassment, the students of Dibrugarh University, where Sarbananda Sonowal studied, on Thursday said that they would not allow the chief minister to enter his alma mater till the government doesn’t decide to drop the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. Mr Sonowal is a pass-out of the university.
Since the visit of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the bill on May 7, Assam has seen unprecedented street protests against the proposed legislation that offers citizenship to refugees belonging to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on religious grounds. The protesters fear that granting of citizenship to migrants from Bangladesh would turn the indigenous people into a minority in their own state.
“Mr Sonowal has said there is no reason for him to continue as the chief minister if he cannot protect the interests of the people of the state. Now, we have decided that we will not allow him to enter the Dibrugarh University campus unless he gets the bill scrapped,” general secretary of Dibrugarh University Post-Graduate Students’ Union David Hazarika said. “We are against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill because it is against the people of Assam,” he added.
Meanwhile, anti-bill agitators are preparing for a massive protest in Guwahati coinciding with the visit of BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday.
Mr Shah is schedule to chair a meeting of the Northeast Democratic Alliance, a BJP-led umbrella organisation of regional parties of the Northeast. The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) has called to observe a “Black Day” on May 20, the day Mr Shah is coming to Guwahati. “We urge the state government to formally permit us to display black flags at the airport here upon his arrival and at the venues of the meetings he will address. The demonstration will be non-violent, with no confrontation or conflict,” KMSS adviser and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi said.
The All-India Congress Committee, after a detailed discussion with its MPs from the state, has asked every member of the party to oppose the amendment bill, irrespective of the community she or he represents. The party had faced severe criticism after its leaders in the Barak Valley spoke in favour of the bill when the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the bill held a public hearing in Silchar.
As the statewide protest is gaining momentum every day, the discontent has spilled over to neighbouring Tripura as well. The JPC, which visited Assam and Meghalaya this time, is scheduled to visit Tripura soon.