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Regular-article-logo Friday, 26 April 2024

KMSS lines up anti-bill protests

AASU has already announced its protest programmes against the bill

A Staff Reporter Guwahati Published 17.11.19, 07:41 PM
Akhil Gogoi in Guwahati on Sunday.

Akhil Gogoi in Guwahati on Sunday. Picture by UB Photos

Peasant rights organisation Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) on Sunday announced a series of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill claiming that the new version of the bill will be more dangerous than the earlier one.

The announcement has come a day ahead of the winter session of the Parliament where the Centre is going to table the bill.

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A Lok Sabha bulletin has listed the citizenship bill at number 16 of the 27 bills to be tabled this session.

According to the bulletin, the bill is to “amend the definition of illegal migrant, reduction in the number of years of residency period to obtain Indian citizenship through naturalisation and to empower the central government to cancel the registration of overseas citizen of India card in case of any violation.”

Following the publication of this bulletin, the KMSS held an executive meeting on Saturday where it decided to launch the protest.

“We will launch the second phase of the anti-bill movement in the state on Monday,” KMSS adviser Akhil Gogoi said.

Along with 69 other organisations, KMSS had last year put up a strong resistance to the bill that sought to relax the eligibility to get Indian citizenship for six religious communities from four neighbouring countries.

Gogoi said all the 70 organisations will join in the protest once again.

As part of its second phase of agitation, KMSS and its sister organisations on Monday will reach out to people in every nook and corner of the state explaining them about the possible threats carried by the bill to the indigenous people of the state.

On November 22, they will send a memorandum to the Prime Minister and home minister expressing their opposition to the bill.

Gogoi requested all anti-bill organisations, including All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and political parties to oppose the bill in a united manner. It requested the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) to come out of the government once again as a protest against the bill.

AASU has already announced its protest programmes against the bill.

“The chief ministers of Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya have announced their protest against the bill. We fear that the Centre will exclude these three states from the purview of the bill. This will make Assam shoulder more burden of the people who will be coming to the Northeast from Bangladesh because of the bill. This will make the bill more dangerous than the earlier one,” Gogoi said.

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