ITANAGAR, Nov 15: The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has expressed solidarity with the North East Students’ Organisation’s agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
“According to the Citizenship Act of 1955, illegal migrants are prohibited from acquiring Indian citizenship. The BJP-led NDA government has introduced the amendment bill in the Lok Sabha, seeking to make illegal migrants from certain minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship. The intention of the BJP government is communally-motivated humanitarianism and for BJP’s vote bank,” the APCC stated in a press release on Thursday.
It said India could not afford to “absorb anyone and everyone who crosses the border,” in view of the country’s “large demography and high population.”
Expressing vehement opposition to the bill, the APCC demanded its immediate withdrawal “as we will not allow our land to become a dumping ground for illegal migrants who would put the identity of our indigenous people at stake.”
It urged the people to oppose the bill, describing it as a “big threat and endanger to the language, culture, identity of the indigenous people of the Northeast region.”
