Student organisations in the North East renewed the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act on Wednesday, nearly two years after violent demonstrations against the controversial law came to a halt because of Covid-19, reported the Hindustan Times.
The Act, approved by Parliament on December 11, 2019, provides citizenship to refugees from six minority religious communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the condition that they have lived in India for six years and entered the country by December 31, 2014.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, however, is yet to be implemented as its provisions are not yet formed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government has said. In May, Home Minister Amit Shah said that the law will be in force as soon as the pandemic ends.
The indigenous groups in the North East feel that the law might lead to an influx of migrants from bordering Bangladesh.
The North East Students Union has termed the legislation communal and against the indigenous residents of the region, reported North East Now. The outfit is the umbrella body of all student organisations in the northeastern states.
“We have been firm in our stand that the CAA is against the interests of Assam and other states in the region,” said Samuel Jyrwa, the president of North East Students Union. “But despite our earlier protests, the Centre went ahead and enacted the legislation.”
During the protest in Guwahati on Wednesday, the police barricaded the All Assam Students Union office to prevent the agitators from staging a march, reported The Economic Times. The protestors, however, displayed placards to oppose the law.
Samujjal Bhattacharjya, an advisor to the North East Students Union, said the outfit protested peacefully at all its headquarters in the region.
Bhattacharjya also accused the Assam government of taking repressive measures by not allowing peaceful protests.
“We will continue with protest for the repeal of the CAA and a solution for the illegal immigrant problem,’ he added. “Fundamentalist groups must be evicted from Assam’s soil.”
The protests in Assam in 2019 had turned violent resulting in the death of five residents. Across India, 28 persons had died during the protests that came to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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