GUWAHATI, Nov 20: All the apex student organizations of the seven Northeast states under the banner of the North East Students Organization (NESO) staged a massive protest here in Assam on Tuesday against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016.
Addressing the gathering, AAPSU general secretary Tobom Dai called upon the indigenous people of the region to stand up against the “illogical and ill-conceived bill that will have the potential to annihilate the indigenous communities of the Northeast.”
Strongly criticizing the central government for “repeatedly playing with the sentiments and aspirations of the Northeast people,” Dai cautioned the Centre against going ahead with the bill.
“The bill gives leverage to the Chakmas and Hajongs, who will automatically qualify for citizenship under the bill that clearly spells says that the minority communities who migrated from countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship,” Dai said.
The stand-in protest was the first of a series of agitation programmes recently announced by the NESO. A large number of people turned up to join the protest.
The gathering was also addressed by NESO advisor Samujjal Battacharjee and NESO secretary general Sinam Prakash.
