By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net
Guwahati: The NDA government’s ordinance to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants continues to draw opposition from different groups from across the state and elsewhere.
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), an influential peasants’ organization led a mass rally in Guwahati on Tuesday to oppose the ordinance.
The KMSS said that this is the utter violation of Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946 and which will in the long run destroy the future of the state.
“This ordinance has violated all the norms. Moreover, we will not allow such kind of political development which is based on religion. This will create chaos in the state and destroy the communal harmony,” said KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi.
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Earlier, the central government had decided, on humanitarian considerations, to exempt Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014 from the relevant provisions of rules under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946, in respect of their entry and stay in India without such documents or after the expiry of those documents, as the case may be.
The Central Government has accordingly issued two notifications in the Official Gazette earlier this month under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946.
The protestors have also met Assam governor PB Acharya to stage their protest.
Besides, the students at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi have also opposed the move. They said this move has completely violates the recommendations of the Assam Accord of 1985, is a nefarious design to communalize the political space in Assam, claimed the organisations.
The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 with the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi following a bloody Assam agitation where 855 agitators of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) lost their lives. This Assam Accord says that anyone who has entered the Indian Territory after March 25 in 1971 is an illegal citizen barring their religion, caste and creed.
The organisations that participated in the protest were Assam Study Circle JNU, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), All India Students Association (AISA), All India Students Federation (AISF), Chatra Mukti Sangram Samiti, Democratic Students Federation (DSF), Khasi Students Union of Delhi, Mishing Students Association of Delhi, Students Federation.