AGP writes to Amit Shah on shaky alliance with Assam-BJP

Guwahati, December 10, 2018:

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) wrote to the BJP national president Amit Shah that the AGP will have no other alternative except to repudiate the existing alliance with the BJP if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 is passed in the Parliament.

The AGP  stated that it came into alliance after the commitment made by the Centre to the implementation of the provisions of the Assam Accord but by introducing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the Parliament as well as the ordinances promulgate on the subject has violated the understanding and intends to make the Assam Accord meaningless.

In the letter it was further stated, “It is reliably learnt that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 inspite of our protest including the protests resorted to by various organisations of indigenous people of Assam before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, the Bill is learnt to be placed before the Parliament.”

“If the Bill is passed in the Parliament, the provisions of the Assam Accord and the ongoing preparation of the National Register of Citizens will be totally frustrated and the Assamese language, culture and demography will be changed. Hence, if the Citizenship Bill is intended to be passes in the Parliament, we will have no other alternative except to repudiate the existing alliance with the BJP.” added in the letter.

It may be mentioned that the Citizenship Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955. The Bill amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship.