Protests to intensify until Citizenship Bill is withdrawn — CPI-M

Agartala, Feb. 4 (IANS): Until the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is withdrawn, protests against it will intensify, especially in the Northeast, former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said on Monday. Sarkar was addressing a protest rally against the Bill here and said if it became an Act, it would destroy the fundamental facet of the Indian Constitution. He said the Bharatiya Janata Party government was determined to make the Bill a law for its narrow political interests despite widespread protests. The Bill seeks to grant citizenship to migrants from six non-Muslim minority groups from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. If it becomes law, "outsiders" could overwhelm the locals in the northeast, political parties say. Sarkar, who was Chief Minister for 20 years since 1998, said: "The British once divided the country. Fresh attempts are being made to further divide the nation by destroying the secular fabric of the Constitution... "Numerous ethnic, religion and linguistic groups, tribals and non-tribals are living in harmony in the Northeast. "Peace has been established in the Northeast after taming decades of terrorism. BJP leaders are fuelling the fire for their political and electoral gains," the Marxist leader added. Campaign over CAB seeks to derail development, says Assam CM Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has claimed that a "motivated campaign" is going on surrounding the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to derail the pace of the development the state is witnessing in the BJP rule. Addressing the Asha and National Health Mission convention here, Sonowal assured the people that the land, culture, language of the indigenous people are fully safe in the hands of the present government. "This (protests against the Bill) is a motivated campaign to derail the pace of development of the state. I urge all people to stand united to thwart the evil design of divisive forces," he said Sunday. The chief minister alleged that a misinformation campaign has been launched by certain vested interest groups that 1.9 crore Bangladeshi immigrants would get settlement in Assam in the days to come if the Bill is implemented. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non- Muslims who fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and entered India before December 31, 2014. Protests against the bill have rocked the entire northeast over the past five weeks, with several organisations and political parties vehemently opposing it. The protesters claim that the bill will nullify the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985, which fixed March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for deportation of illegal immigrants, irrespective of religion.