Anti-CAA protest group call on Guv Kataria, urges for repeal of CAA

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMarch 21, 2024

An anti-CAA protest group, Birodhi Jatiya Mancha on Thursday called on Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and urged him to pressurize the Central government to repeal the controversial Citizenship amendment Act, 2019.

On March 11, the Minister of Home Affairs (MHA) published the rules for implementation of CAA across the country triggering protests in various parts of the state.

In a memorandum to the Governor, the Birodhi Jatiya Mancha said the legislation, which was passed by the Parliament on December 11, 2019 was not constitutional as it sought to grant citizenship to the foreign nationals based on religion.

“Section 6 of the Act allows persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to get Indian citizenship. This is against the constitution of India which grants equal rights to all people cutting across their religious beliefs,” the memorandum said.

“Section 2 of the Act, Indian citizenship will be granted to the people who entered India within December 31, 2014. This will violate the clauses of the historic Assam Accord which was signed between the Centre and Assam government with the leadership of All Assam Students Union (AASU) and Sadou Asom Gana Sangram Parishad (SAGSP) on August 15, 1985,” the memorandum stated.

“The CAA will be a threat to the identity, language, and culture of the indigenous people of the state. The people of the state never accept such an Act as Assam is unable to bear the additional burden of foreign nationals,” they argued.

The memorandum was signed by the convenors of the organizations- Rubul Das, Gagan Kalita, Jadav Gogoi, Pradip Kalita, Rabi Saikia Chutia, Siphu Ujjal Basumatary, Sanjib Cheram Deori and Ramen Baruah.