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

Guwahati, October 10, 2019:

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi on Thursday 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 warned.

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Gogoi lamented that the people of Assam are yet to come out to protest against the influx of illegal immigrants into the State. Gogoi said that the politics of Assam is based around the issue of illegal immigration.

Gogoi alleged that from 1967 onwards, Congress became pro Muslim-immigrants. Once they started supporting these migrants, the Assam Agitation was launched, Gogoi said.

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"AGP was also launched after the agitation with the main issue of illegal immigration as its founding basis. After that, Tarun Gogoi took an anti-immigration stance with his comments against Badruddin Ajmal. BJP too came to power with the promise of driving out illegals. However, they soon adopted the Hindutva ideology, with the intention to settle all Hindus in India", the peasant leader complained.

Gogoi also warned that if this keeps up, soon, an illegal immigrant will become the Chief Minister of the State. "If the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is enacted, 20 lakh Hindu Bangladeshis will be given citizenship rights", Gogoi said. He also added that if the Bill is enacted, 1.7 crore Bangladeshis will arrive in India.

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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 Bill relaxes the requirement of residence in India from 11 years to 6 years for these migrants.

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