Guwahati: People in Assam coming on the roads to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 with a number groups burning the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, taking out processions and blocking rail and road traffic.
Meanwhile, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has threatened to pull out of the ongoing peace process with the Centre if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, is passed in Parliament.
The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) burnt the effigies of Modi, Singh and Sonowal at Nalbari.
Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain earlier suggested that Bangladesh-origin Hindus do not pose any threat to the indigenous communities in Assam.
“Few people are spreading rumours that with the implementation of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, all Hindu Bangladeshis will be a part of Assam. The Hindus who came to India till 2014 will be given citizenship. This won’t affect the indigenous community of Assam,” Gohain told ANI.
“The Bangladesh-origin Hindus have supported us, so we (BJP) are also supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 that would pave the way for grant of citizenship to this community. It is Bangladeshi-origin Muslims who are posing threat to the identity and culture of indigenous communities in the state,” he added.
Gohain’s statement came while the Joint Committee of Parliament (JPC) led by chairman and BJP MLA Rajendra Agarwal is in the state taking opinions of various sections of the society on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016.
With agencies inputs