Bengali Body Demands 'Khilanjia' Status for Bengalis in Assam

Guwahati, December 24, 2019:

Amid the ongoing protests over the Central Government's amendment of the Citizenship Act, the All India Bengali Organization (AIBO), an influential Bengali body, has demanded that 'khilanjia' or indigenous status be accorded to Bengalis living in Assam.

In a new set of resolutions passed by the Bengali body, undersigned by the organization's General Secretary, Manas Roy, it was stated, "AIBO also adopted a resolution seeking khilanjia status to Bengali Indian citizens living in Assam while taking into consideration the history of Bengalis which is around six thousand years old.

In the same statement, the body also decried the CAA, and alleged that it is a "design to convert Hindi Bengali citizens into refugees by the present dispensation".

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The AIBO, claiming that the CAA is against the "principles" of the Indian Constitution, has also vowed to oppose the Bill-turned-Act at all costs.

Calling for peaceful co-existence, the AIBO stated, "AIBO believes in peaceful co-existence with various ethnic groups of Assam and has resolved to extend its wholehearted support for the preservation and protection of Assamese language and culture."

Meanwhile, the protests against the CAA continue in earnest and Dibrugarh district in Upper Assam today saw the 'father of all protests' as over a lakh citizens from all walks of life came together under the banner of the AASU to raise their voices collectively.

However, despite the protests in Assam, the rest of India, and even abroad, the Narendra Modi-led BJP Government remains defiant to enact the CAA, and, at a later stage, a 'nationwide NRC."

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