Assam: Tribal Bodies in Karbi Anglong Demand Govt to Withdraw Citizenship Bill

Diphu, November 27, 2019:

Some influential organizations of Karbi Anglong district in Assam have demanded the Government of India to immediately withdraw the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

The Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC), Karbi Students Association (KSA) and Karbi Nimso Chingthur Asong (KNCA) on Tuesday staged a sit-in protest at the Ru-Semsonsing Ingti Memorial park as a mark of protest, and demanded the Government withdraw the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

ALSO READ: Gauhati High Court Slaps ‘Super 30’ Founder Anand Kumar with Rs. 50,000 Fine

They said that the Bill should be withdrawn by the Government once and for all. They further demanded that the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system should be introduced as per the Eastern Bengal Frontier Act and Chin Hills Regulation Act.

"If religious persecution has indeed taken place in neighboring countries with majority Muslim-populations, the Government of India should take up the matter with the United Nation instead of settling the victims here and granting them citizenship", one of the protesters piped.

The organizations also jointly submitted a memorandum to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, through the Deputy Commissioner of Karbi Anglong, to immediately withdraw the contentious Bill and resolve the issue once and for all.

It may be mentioned here that protests against the Bill are being held across Assam, as well as in other parts of the Northeast, as it is being scheduled to be tabled during the winter session of Parliament.

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.