The Bharatiya Janata Party’s district president in Assam’s Tinsukia Lakheswar Moran on Wednesday sustained injuries during a clash with people protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Northeast Now reported. The protestors included members of the All Assam Students’ Union, Asom Gana Parishad and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad.
The incident took place while the Lok Jagran Manch was holding a meeting in the area to “dispel concerns about the bill”, NorthEast Now reported. The protestors disrupted the meeting, waved black flags and shouted slogans. A report on Time8, however, said that the meeting was organised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
The police resorted to baton-charging to quell the protests, reports said.
BJP’s state president Ranjit Kumar Dass condemned the assault on Moran and said the manhandling cannot be termed as a democratic movement, The Times of India reported. Dass said an FIR has been registered against the protestors.
“We don’t have any problem if someone protests with black flags or goes nude,” Dass told the newspaper. “But if someone does like it was done in case of our Tinsukia district president, our 29 lakh karyakartas [workers] will not remain silent. We do not want anyone to cross the Laxman Rekha.”
Protests broke out against the bill in several parts of Assam. The Lok Sabha had passed the controversial bill on January 8.
The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955 in order to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan if they have lived in India for six years, even if they do not possess the necessary documents.
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