Demanding the centre to immediately scrap CAA, NESO Chairman Samuel Jyrwa on Tuesday said if ILP system is implemented in Northeast it will be good for everyone, irrespective of caste and creed.
He was speaking to a gathering in a protest rally organised by Tezpur AASU in Church Field, Tezpur, which was participated by over 20,000 people who came from various places of Sonitpur district.
“The government should have sorted out an effective agenda to make Northeast a foreigner-free-zone if they were honest in dealing with this prolonged problem of infiltration,” he further said.
“The government should have implemented scientific ways like the inner line permit (ILP) system without giving special focus on bringing Hindu Bangladeshis through the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA),” he reiterated.
All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya, president Dipanka Kumar Nath and several other leaders representing 30 ethnic organizations took part in the protest rally.
“Our protests will not stop until CAA is scrapped,” said Samujjal Bhattacharya.
“In an effort to douse the anti-CAA protests, the government recently announced a slew of schemes. But these will not diver the people from continuing with the movement,” he added.
“People have joined the movement on their will. They cannot be diverted,” he further added.
“We don’t understand what is BJP trying to do? On one hand, they say the Assamese language is safe, but on the other hand, they want to bring in Hindu Bangladeshis and bring down a threat to our language,” he said.
AASU president Dipanka Nath said the Modi government is misleading and creating confusion among the people to keep those Bangladeshis who entered the state till December 2014 using CAA.
“CAA violates basic principles of the Assam Accord. Hence we warn the government if CAA is not scrapped or they don’t reconsider the decision, we will intensify our agitation,” Nath reiterated.
Speaking on the meeting, renowned singer Zubeen Garg said, “Since artists from Northeast have also felt how CAA would harm the indigenous people, they have united against CAA.”
“With the present political parties turning out to be betrayers, it’s time we think of an alternative party,” he added.
