Tezpur, Sept. 24: The All Assam Gorkha Students’ Union today registered its protest against the branding of Nepalese staying in Assam as illegal Bangladeshis.

Union president Jagdish Khanal told reporters here that Nepalese settled in Assam for more than 100 years were being identified as illegal Bangladeshis. He said a joint meeting of the Assamese Nepali community would be convened at North Lakhimpur on September 29 to chalk out a future course of action against the alleged harassment of Nepalese in Assam.

“We are against illegal entry of foreign nationals, be it Bangladeshis or Nepalese,” he said, adding that he would always cooperate against illegal entry of foreign nationals. He also announced an agitation against foreign nationals in the near future.

He also said they would observe a “black day” on October 4 against non-fulfilment of chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s promise of providing proper security to villagers of Bhimajuli in Sonitpur district, bordering Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, where NDFB militants had shot dead 12 persons on October 4, 2009.

Khanal showed notifications issued by Sonitpur district foreign nationals tribunal against at least 16 persons of Nepalese origin who have been staying before Independence. Indra Bahadur Rai who received such a notification, said, “We have stayed in the state for a long time, embraced Assamese culture and are in no way foreigners.”