Citizenship Bill Not to Impact the Indigenous Assamese: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati, November 17, 2019:

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday stated that the proposed Citizenship Bill shall not impact the state of Assam, and in fact, shall provide 'relief' to 4-5 lakh 'persecuted' migrants in the state.

Speaking on the sidelines of a public function, the Finance Minister said that the proposed Bill will not affect the interests of the indigenous people in the State of Assam.

The Finance Minister further announced that the will provide a solution to around 4-5 lakh "persecuted" religious minorities from neighboring majority Muslim nations.

Biswa Sarma further informed that around 2 lakh of these people are living in Assam's Bengali-majority Barak Valley, which shares boundary with Bangladesh.

It may be mentioned here that the Minister has said that the new version of the Bill will be different from the one that was introduced this year, that lapsed earlier this year in the Upper House, presumably because the ruling BJP party did not have a majority in the Upper House. However, this time around, the saffron brigade has a majority in both the Houses, and leaders, including Biswa Sarma, have opined that the Bill will pass this time around without much of a fuss.

ALSO READ: KMSS & AASU Should Fight Unitedly against Citizenship Bill: KMSS Chief Akhil Gogoi

Meanwhile, the indigenous bodies as well as student unions have resolved to launch protests against the Bill, which seeks to give citizenship to certain persecuted communities from neighboring countries.

ALSO READ: Meghalaya Chief Minister Raises Issue of ‘Citizenship Bill’ with Home Minister Amit Shah

Assam's peasant leader Akhil Gogoi, meanwhile, has said that the KMSS will carry out awareness drives from tomorrow onwards to every nook and cranny of Assam, to alert them to the dangers of the proposed Citizenship Bill. “Our stand is very clear — we have no option but to protest the CAB — as it is the only option if we are to save the Assamese.”

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