Silchar: The adviser to the central committee of the All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students' Association, Rupam Nandi Purkayastha, on Sunday challenged pro-talks Ulfa leader Jiten Dutta to come to Barak Valley with 1,000 cadres and garner support against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

Dutta had recently said he would go to Barak Valley with 1,000 cadres to shore up support against the bill.

The bill aims to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who have fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 2014.

During a news conference on Sunday afternoon, Purkayastha told reporters here that Dutta would make a big mistake if he thought that such a statement by him would frighten them and he would be able to do whatever he liked here.

"Barak Valley is an island of peace and people here are not going to bow down to any threats. The valley had witnessed a massacre on May 19, 1961 (Language Martyrs' Day). The memories are still fresh," Purkayastha said, indicating that consequences could be dangerous if attempts were made to disturb the peaceful atmosphere in the valley.

He questioned why the BJP-led government had not taken any action against Dutta for issuing a threatening statement and demanded that Dutta be arrested. "Why is the government silent over the matter? Is it incapable of taking action against Dutta?" Purkayastha asked.

Talking about the National Register of Citizens (NRC), he said they were not against the NRC, but harassment in its name would not be tolerated at all. "The names of all the genuine citizens should be included in the NRC," he said.

Karimganj North MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha told this correspondent the government should tell them the reason for not taking any action against Dutta.

No one from the BJP was available for comment.