Guwahati: Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS), a leading human rights group from Assam, utilised the occasion of Parag Das Memorial Day to voice its concern on effect of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 on the people of Assam.

Formed in 1991, the organisation, of which Das was one of the founding members, maintained that the bill, with the alleged objective of providing citizenship to migrants, is solely targeted at providing citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis.

The bill violated the secular spirit of the Constitution and will have far-reaching consequences on the economic and political fields. It was pointed out that, with rise in Bengali-speaking population, the Assamese people would become a minority in the state linguistically and pressure on agricultural land will increase. The population density in the state had increased from 185 per km in 1970- 71 to 397 in 2010-11, the organisation said.

Barak condemnation

Various organisations in Barak Valley here have condemned the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, and some of the groups have expressed concern that "it is being politicised".

The central adviser to the All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students' Association, Rupam Nandi Pur-kayastha, said they don't have faith on the political parties because former chief minister Tarun Gogoi came to power in 2011 through promising to sort out the issue of illegal migrants but after assuming the power he did nothing about it.

The president of the Union Territory Demand Committee, Sanjit Debnath, urged not to politicise the issue. He said the political parties should work for the common interest of the Barak Valley people.

The central president of the Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya O Sanskriti Sanmilan, Saurindra Bhattacharjee said, "We are a non-political organisation and are not concerned about the political parties."

In Jorhat, the AGP's district committee will organise a public meeting at Chitralekha Bibah Bhawan on Saturday to discuss the bill. Former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, AGP president Atul Bora and working president Keshav Mahanta will be present at the public.

Additional reporting by our correspondent in Hailakandi and Devajit Baruah in Jorhat