AGP protest in Assam over the Citizenship Bill. The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has quit the alliance with the BJP over the Modi government's decision to go ahead with the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which seeks to give citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Asom Gana Parishad President Atul Bora said this here on Monday after an AGP delegation led by him met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
“We have made our best efforts to convince the BJP leadership about the negative impact of the Bill and the stand of the people of Assam, But the BJP has decided to go ahead with the Bill leaving us with no option but to quit the alliance,” he told the media.
The Union Cabinet earlier cleared the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 after a Joint Parliamentary Committee submitted its recommendations to the Lok Sabha. The Bill is likely to be debated in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The snapping of the ties by the AGP, however, does not threaten the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance government in Assam.
The BJP has 61 members and the support of an Independent member in the house of 126 while its ally BPF has 13 members. While the AGP has 14 members, the Congress and AIUDF have 24 and 13 members respectively.
Bora said: “We fought a long battle over the Citizenship Bill. We protested on the streets and we met different political parties and members of the JPC over the Bill. We tried our best to stop the Bill being a part of the government. However, now that the BJP has decided to go ahead with it, we have no other option but to walk out of the alliance,” said Bora.
He said the alliance with the BJP before the 2016 Assembly polls was a demand of the time.
“The Congress was in power from 2001 to 2016 and we decided to oust the Congress from power by forging an alliance with the BJP. The people did not only vote for the BJP but voted for AGP and BJP combine. However, the BJP failed to keep the promises of the alliance partner. Being a regional party, we have to respect the wishes and sentiments of the people of Assam,” Bora added.
The Union Cabinet on Monday approved the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 that aims to give citizenship to illegal migrants of six minority groups from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, a move that has stoked a major row in Assam.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cleared the bill soon after a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) presented its report in the Lok Sabha endorsing the move to legalize minority immigrants who entered Assam till December 31, 2014, but asked the government to tread with caution in view of the matter being sub judice and take all legal steps, lest it causes embarrassment at a later stage.
The amendment bill is likely to be tabled in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
As many as eight MPs in the 30-member parliamentary Committee, headed by Rajendra Agarwal of the BJP, have appended their notes of dissent to the report of the JPC that was tabled in Parliament on Monday saying the provisions of the Bill went against the spirit of the Assam Accord and will accentuate divisions and discontent among the people of the state.
Several groups opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 on Monday observed a ‘Black day’ in protest against the move of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 to table its report to the Lok Sabha.
While the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and 30 other outfits burnt copies of the Bill in towns and villages of Assam to register their protest, over 70 other organisations under the leadership of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) hoisted black flags in different parts of the state.
The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), another leading student body, also staged protests across the state.
One AJYCP member stood nude to protest in Tinsukia town shouting slogans against the Bill and the JPC’s move to table the report.
“We have observed the day as ‘Black day’. The Citizenship Bill has not only threatened the existence of indigenous communities of Assam but also make the indigenous people a minority in their own land. The BJP has failed to understand the sentiments of the people of the state. We are going to fight till the Bill is scrapped,” said AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya.
While AASU and other groups staged protests on Monday, the North East Students Organization (NESO) — an umbrella organisations of students bodies of all the northeastern states — has called for a total shutdown on Tuesday.
“This Bill is against the indigenous people of Assam and we are going to oppose it tooth and nail. NESO has also called for a mass demonstration in Guwahati on January 23 to register its protest against the Bill,” he added.
“Through the Bill, the BJP wants to win the Lok Sabha polls. We have already started a movement against this and will continue until the Bill is withdrawn,” said KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi.
There have been protests in Assam over the Citizenship Bill since last year when the members of the JPC visited Assam to seek public opinion over the Bill.
The movement has been intensified from January 4 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public rally in Silchar said that the Citizenship Bill would be passed by Parliament soon. (IANS)