Delegations of 29 organisations of Assam will meet the State's MLAs, MPs and their families on November 9 in their residences and urge them to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, Foreigners (Amendment) Rules, Passport (Entry into India) Amendment Rules and the rule to provide long-term visa for migrants.
The decision was taken by leaders of these organisations in a meeting held here under the initiative of the All Assam Students Union (AASU).
These 29 organisations also decided to carry out a series of protests in the State against the conspiracy of the government to settle illegal migrants in Assam. Accordingly, the organisations will hold a sit-in demonstration at Dispur on November 8, followed by another sit-in demonstration in all district headquarters on November 10. On November 16, a torchlight procession will be taken out across the State.
On the other hand, the KMSS lead group of 60 organizations are crying foul that they have been ignored by Assam Government and Chief Minister Sarbandnanda Sonowal have not given them time for any meeting.
Meanwhile the AASU said that after these programmes, a mass gathering will be held in Guwahati to formulate the future path of the movement, although the date is yet to be finalised. Moreover, a delegation of these 29 organisations will also move the President, Prime Minister and Union Home Minister with their demands soon.
"We, the 29 organisations of Assam, have taken an oath to protect the identity of the Assamese society… We have decided to meet the families of all MPs and MLAs of Assam and will request them to oppose the citizenship Bill as well as different government orders and rules… we think the families of these people's representatives can play a vital role in the movement," AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath said after the meeting.
AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi, addressing the media later said, "Under no circumstances will we accept any illegal migrant. The Central government should try to understand the problem of Assam. The immigrants are a threat to the identity of the indigenous people… We have already accommodated a large number of immigrants based on the Assam Accord mandated cut-off date of 1971."
Gogoi asked Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to clear his stand on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. He also alleged that some government agents are now trying to divide the Assamese society in the name of the illegal migrant issue.
Citing that the NRC has now become an electoral agenda for the BJP, AASU chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said, "With implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, the BJP is trying to make the NRC updating futile. We will never allow it to do so. If needed, a large scale mass movement will be launched in the State."
Criticizing the BJP-led Central Government, Bhattacharya said, "Till today, we have not got any results from the BJP-led Government. The Indo-Bangla border is yet to be sealed and illegal immigrant are yet to be detected. So it is time for Sarbananda Sonowal to clear his stand."
