The Assam government employees have come forward in a state wide protest against with the slogan 'Job not above Motherland' the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. An association of government employees Sodou Asom Karmachari Parishad (SAKP) is set to launch a joint movement with AASU to oppose the proposed Bill and for an error-free National Register of Citizens (NRC) that is undergoing the update process.
SAKP president Basab Kalita, in a meeting in Guwahati on Tuesday said that the association has decided to join hands with AASU in opposing the bill as it "threatens the existence, language, heritage and culture of the indigenous people of Assam".
SAKP had expressed opposition to the bill before the Joint Parliamentary Committee when its members visited Assam on May 07 and 09, said Kalita.
AASU and SAKP came to conclusion that May 18 would be observed as 'Preronar Din' (Day of Inspiration) to encourage the employees engaged in NRC update process. AASU chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya said that they are going to organise a protest in front of the Raj Bhavan on June 4 opposing the Bill.
In the meeting, both the organisations also agreed to approach the district deputy commissioners to ensure safety and security of government employees engaged in the NRC update process. Bhattacharyya has claimed that there were reports of government employees in certain places being pressurised to include the names of suspected illegal immigrants and some residents based on verbal information without official legacy data required for the process. "This is a clear violation of norm. The employees are feeling the pressure at various levels. We appeal to district administrations to ensure the security of the government employees to help them work without fear", he said.
