Actor-turned-politician Jatin Bora on Thursday resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party to protest against the amendments made to the Citizenship Act, PTI reported. He also quit as the chairperson of the state-run Assam State Film Finance Development Corporation.
“I don’t accept CAB,” Bora said while addressing thousands of protestors at the Latasil grounds in Guwahati. “My identity of Jatin Bora is because of the people of Assam and I am with them on this issue.”
In a democracy, citizens are the kings, he added, according to The Telegraph. “I thought that after the protests the government would withdraw the bill, but instead it passed it,” Bora said. “I was just a member of the party and I do not support everything it says. I oppose the CAB and I will keep on protesting against it.”
Announcing his resignation, Bora said he joined the BJP in 2014 to revive the Assamese film industry and had no intention of becoming a political figure.
Another Assamese actor Ravi Sharma had also resigned after the bill was tabled in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. National Award winning filmmaker Jahnu Barua had also decided to withdraw his film from the 8th Assam State Film Awards and this year’s film festival in protest against the amendments to the Citizenship Act. Singer Papon on Thursday had cancelled his concert in Delhi, saying his “home state Assam is burning, crying and under curfew”.
The contentious amendments will allow citizenship to persecuted people of six communities – but not Muslims – from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, provided they have resided in India for six years. The cut-off date is December 31, 2014. The amendments were approved by both Houses of Parliament this week and were signed into law by President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday night.
Two people were killed in Assam and 21 were injured as demands to withdraw the changes to the 1955 law were raised. The widespread fear in the North East is that populations defined as indigenous to the region will be culturally and physically overrun by migrants as a result of these changes.
Also read: Urdu journalist Shirin Dalvi returns literary award in protest against Citizenship Act
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