Akhil Gogoi Arrested During Citizenship Bill Protest

Guwahati, October 11, 2019:

The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) has kickstarted protests against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on Friday. However, their leader Akhil Gogoi was arrested by Guwahati city police near the Kamrup (M) DC Office.

Also Read: Assam and Tripura to Suffer Most Due to Citizenship Bill: KMSS Chief Akhil Gogoi

After getting arrested, Akhil Gogoi said that the local police had arrested him in a "most undemocratic manner."

Reacting to Akhil Gogoi's arrest, KMSS General Secretary Dhairjya Konwar said that the arrest of Akhil is "undemocratic". "Our right to a democratic protest has been curtailed. The arrest of Akhil proves that we are indeed living in bleak times."

Konwar further added that the Citizenship Bill will not be allowed to be passed under any circumstance, and affirmed that the farmers' body will continue to protest against the Bill.

Also Read: Mental Health Should Not be Treated as a Stigma: Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma

Earlier, Akhil had stated that the people of Assam and Tripura will suffer greatly once the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is enacted by the Central Government.

“Although states with land rights, such as Sikkim, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya will be left outside the purview of the Bill, states without any safeguards in the Northeast — Assam and Tripura — will be great sufferers”, Gogoi had warned.

It may be mentioned here that the Indian Citizenship Amendment Bill was proposed in Lok Sabha on July 19, 2016, amending the Citizenship Act of 1955. If this Bill is passed in Parliament, illegal migrants from minority communities like Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan will then be eligible for Indian citizenship, excluding people from the Muslim community.

The BJP administration has announced that the Bill will be introduced in the upcoming session of Parliament, in December.

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