The North East Students’ Organisation, or NESO, said on Tuesday that the Citizenship Amendment Act will not be accepted in the Northeastern states, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will face protests when he visits the region again, the Hindustan Times reported. The organisation is an umbrella group of student bodies from eight Northeastern states.
“The CAA is based on religion, which violates the Indian Constitution,” the organisation’s chairperson, Samuel B Jyrwa, said. “We don’t distinguish on basis of religion but basis of identity.” Jyrwa said that there are many states in the North East, but “psychologically we stand as one”.
The All Assam Students Union, which is a part of NESO, said it is necessary for India to “appear as a secular country in our thoughts and acts”. “Those supporting CAA are communal,” All Assam Students’ Union leader Samujjal Bhattacharya said. “We are against both Hindu and Muslim migrants who have entered the North East.” He added that the group will continue its non-violent protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, approved by Parliament on December 11, provides citizenship to refugees from six minority religious communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, provided they have lived in India for six years and entered the country by December 31, 2014. The Act has been widely criticised for excluding Muslims.
However, in the North East, the Act has been seen by protestors as impinging upon their ethnic and cultural identities. Last month, five people died in Assam during clashes between the police and protestors. Nationwide, 26 people have died so far.
Adivasis protesting Act detained
Around 200 Adivasis protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act were detained in Agartala, the capital of Tripura, on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported. The protestors were demonstrating under the banner of the Joint Movement Against CAA. The protestors shouted slogans against Modi and Amit Shah.
The movement’s convenor, Anthony Debbarma, told the meeting that the Adivasis are against the Act because Tripura has already accommodated a lot of migrants since its merger with the Indian Union in 1949. “We were assured by the home minister that we would be called for a second round of dialogue after 10 to 15 days,” Debbarma told the newspaper. “It’s been nearly a month since then, but there is no sign of the talk. If the central government can’t keep its promises, we shall resume our agenda of a statewide strike soon.”
The Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, on Monday began an indefinite sit-in demonstration against the Citizenship Amendment Act, The Indian Express reported. The IPFT also demanded statehood for Adivasis living in the state.
The party has been holding the demonstration at the Dukmali Bazaar in Khumulwng town in West Tripura. It said that the protest will continue until the Centre takes positive steps on the matters it has highlighted.
Tripura Revenue Minister NC Debbarma said that Adivasis will be further alienated if the Citizenship Amendment Act is implemented in the state. “There are illegal immigrants in Tripura,” he said. “This was confirmed by several reports, many by the Government of India itself. So, settling anymore will be detrimental to interests of tribals.”
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, a BJP leader, said on January 2 that he will not allow foreigners to settle in the state. At a press conference, the BJP leader said that as a “son of the soil” of Assam, he would never allow a foreign immigrant to settle in his land. However, Sonowal also claimed that the Citizenship Amendment Act will not alter the demography of the state.
NESO condemns JNU violence, holds Centre responsible
NESO also condemned the violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi on Sunday night, and blamed the Centre for it, Northeast Now reported. Samujjal Bhattacharya, who is the organisation’s chief advisor, said Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah must take immediate steps to book those involved in the violence. He added that NESO will register a protest against the violence on Wednesday and Thursday by hoisting black flags at Assam’s educational institutions.
At least 34 students and teachers were injured in the mob attack at JNU, believed to have been carried out by activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s youth wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
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