The north-eastern States shut down on Tuesday against the “anti-indigenous people” Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 that the Union Cabinet cleared on Monday for approval by Parliament.
The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) had first announced a 11-hour shutdown against the Bill, its first such call in more than a decade. The North East Students’ Organisation and State-based students’ bodies in the other north-eastern States joined in while political parties such as Congress and All India United Democratic Front supported the call.
The shutdown that began at 5 a.m. was total across much of the region with vehicles, both private and commercial being off the roads. A few that defied the call were damaged by protesters in Guwahati and elsewhere in the region. Except for essential services and engineering aspirants appearing for Joint Entrance Examination, all educational institutions, business and commercial establishments remained closed.
“The Bill is contrary to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s avowed objective to save race, land and hearth. The Assamese and other indigenous peoples feel betrayed by the Narendra Modi government, which seems hell bent upon making Assam a dumping ground for foreigners thereby threatening our existence,” AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattarcharya said.
Streets and commercial areas in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland wore a deserted look. But the shutdown had hardly any impact in Tripura, where the BJP came to power in March last. It also had no impact in southern Assam’s Barak Valley, which has been supporting the Citizenship Bill since the inception.
AGP to quit alliance on Wednesday
All ministers and heads of corporations of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which announced on Monday that it was ending its two-year-old alliance with the BJP, would be quitting formally on Wednesday. The party had been under pressure from political and social organisations to quit because of ideological differences with the BJP over the Bill.
“We tried our best to convince the Modi government not to pursue the Bill that goes against the constitutional provisions, besides being potentially dangerous for the indigenous people of Assam. The State has since India’s independence absorbed waves of migrants from present day Bangladesh and can no longer do so,” AGP president Atul Bora said after returning from New Delhi on Tuesday morning.
Mr. Bora said he would quit as Agriculture Minister on Wednesday along with Water Resources Minister Keshab Mahanta and Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Phani Bhushan Choudhury. They were part of the 18-member Sarbananda Sonowal government.
The severance of alliance with the BJP, however, would not make the government fall in Assam. Minus the 14 AGP legislators, the Sonowal government would be left with 73 MLAs, nine more than the majority mark of 64 in the 126-member Assembly. The BJP has 61 MLAs and its other regional ally, the Bodoland People’s Front, which has assured its continuous support, has 13.
Nagaland questions Bill
The Nagaland Cabinet, on Monday evening, resolved to request the Centre to re-examine and review the Citizenship Bill to ensure it is “in consonance with the provisions of the Constitution and the existing practices of the Nagas”.
The BJP has 12 legislators in the Neiphiu Rio-headed government in alliance with the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party.
The Conrad Sangma-led coalition government in Meghalaya too had opposed the Bill but desisted from calling off its ties with the BJP, which is a minor player with two MLAs.
The BJP office in Meghalaya capital Shillong was partly damaged when miscreants threw petrol bombs at it on Monday. It was not clear if the attack was to protest the Bill.
