2 injured in protest succumb, unrest continues in Assam
Taking a u-turn after voting in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has decided to challenge the Act in the Supreme Court. The party leaders have also decided to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the matter.
Meanwhile, the North-East continued to witness unrest with two more people protesting against the amended Citizenship Act in Assam succumbing to injuries on Sunday. The deceased were identified as Ishwar Nayak and Abdul Alim. Both of them suffered bullet injuries due to police firing during clashes in Guwahati on Thursday.
Curfew imposed on Guwahati and parts of Dibrugarh district in the wake of the violent protests was relaxed on Sunday for several hours. Special trains have been arranged by the Assam tourism department in association with the railways to ferry passengers stranded in various parts of the state.
Former Rajya Sabha MP and AGP leader Kumar Deepak Das on Sunday said that AGP would file a petition in the Supreme Court praying for revocation of the amended Citizenship Act. The decision was taken after a meeting of top party leaders in Guwahati on Saturday night. He asserted that the AGP respected the sentiments of common people, who were wary that the law might threaten their identity and existence.
“We will take the legal route to seek revocation of the amended Act as the indigenous people of Assam are apprehensive that their identity, language might come under threat,” Das said. Sources said a delegation of the AGP, led by Das, would leave for Delhi to file the plea in the apex court as PILs seeking revocation of the Act were scheduled to be taken up for hearing on December 18. Former AGP Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who had been vocal about his opposition to the amended Act, claimed the party never adopted any resolution supporting the law. He urged the AGP leadership to clear its stand on the contentious matter.
On the other hand, dissidence had been brewing in the AGP after party chief Atul Bora had said if the Centre “wants to bring the Bill, he cannot do anything about it”.
He demanded that the Brahmaputra valley, where violent protests have been happening over the amended Citizenship Act, should be excluded from its purview.
Addressing a press conference at Guwahati, Bora, also a state minister, said as the legislation has already become an Act, so at least the Brahmaputra valley should be excluded and it may be implemented in the Barak valley. The Barak valley, which has a significant Bengali population, has not seen any major agitation.
AGP leader and Assam minister Keshab Mahanta said the party has not left its “old stand” of opposing the contentious Act. “Though we are a part of the NDA, our stand has not changed. We still do not want this Act to be implemented in Assam and North East,” he said. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was cleared by the parliament on Wednesday and became an Act on Thursday.
