AGP says it will not allow Citizenship Bill to be passed

Guwahati, October 23, 2018:

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has urged the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to not submit its report on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to the Central government based on the opinions of a section of people in Assam.

A delegation of the party, led by its president Atul Bora who is also a minister in Sarbananda Sonowal government, met JCP chief Rajendra Agarwal and some of its members in New Delhi and urged them to visit Assam again to take the opinions of people across the state.

Bora told InsideNe that the AGP would keep opposing the bill as it, if passed, would threaten the existence of indigenous people in Assam.

“Yesterday and the day before, we met the JPC chairman and some of its members. We told them not to ignore the opinions of people in Assam. They visited Guwahati and Barak Valley but did not go to northern Assam, upper Assam or lower Assam. The duty of the JPC is to submit report and they will do it based on people’s opinions. We told them that they should not submit the report based on the opinions of a section of people. We demanded they visit Assam again before submitting the report. The people of Assam do not accept this bill. If it is passed, the locals will become minority. There is no doubt it threatens the existence of the locals,” Bora said.

He said Agarwal had told the AGP delegation that the JPC was taking the views of various Central ministries.

“But we insisted that the JPC should visit Assam again. We will not allow this bill to be passed in the Parliament. We will keep raising our voices not just against this bill but against anything that hurts the interests of the people of Assam,” he said.

Asked if the AGP has any plans to pull out of the government, Bora said, “AGP is a people’s party. When the party will give a direction to sever ties, we will not wait for a minute. For us, power for five years cannot be greater than ‘jati’ (community)”.

On Tuesday’s total bandh, he said, “It shows what the people of Assam want”.