Criticizing the protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), Pradip Dutta Roy on Friday said Assam will split into five parts if the protests continue for too long.
Dutta Roy, the founder president of All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students Association (ACKHSA) said Assam will witness political and territorial splits if the different pressure groups don’t stop opposing the bill immediately.
The CAB is likely to be tabled in parliament during the first week of December, with the aim to grant Indian citizenship to the persecuted Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh.
Dutta Roy criticized the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) for opposing the bill in Assam.
“The way AASU and Akhil Gogoi’s KMSS are vehemently opposing the bill, Assam would get divided into five parts,” he said.
Dutta Roy, who was earlier in active politics with the Congress as well as the BJP, said Barak Valley will be the first to wriggle out of Assam if the AASU and KMSS don’t stop opposing the CAB.
“They (AASU and KMSS) are unnecessarily trying to divide the people of Assam,” he said.
Dutta Roy said the Bodos, Karbis and the Koch Rajbongshis are also not going to remain with Assam if Barak Valley wriggles out of Assam.
In fact, the ACKHSA has been fighting for a Union Territory status of Barak Valley. But, the demand has gone off track after Dutta Roy had joined the Congress.
There is a strong reason for the Bengali-dominated Barak Valley to support the CAB as a lot of Hindu migrants from Bangladesh who are settled in the three districts, would be granted citizenship.
Dutta Roy hinted that if Barak Valley demands to wriggle out of Assam, three other ethnic groups – Bodo, Karbi and Koch-Rajbongshi would also aggressively revive their demands for statehood.
“They (AASU and KMSS) are trying to divide Assam, and the protests against the CAB should be stopped at the earliest,” he said.
Dutta Roy added, “Anyways, CAB would be tabled in parliament in the 1st week of December and no one can stop it from being passed in the floor of the house.”