NewsClick

NewsClick
  • हिन्दी
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Science
  • Culture
  • India
  • International
  • Sports
  • Podcasts
  • Articles
  • Videos
search
menu
  • All Podcasts
  • All Articles
  • Newsclick Articles
  • All Videos
  • Newsclick Videos
  • हिन्दी
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Science
  • Culture
  • India
  • Sports
  • International
  • Africa
  • Latin America
  • Palestine
  • Nepal
  • Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka
  • US
  • West Asia
About us
Contact us
Subscribe
Follow us Facebook - Newsclick Twitter - Newsclick RSS - Newsclick
close menu
Protests & Movements
Politics
India

BJP-RSS Not Allowed: University Students in Assam Up in Arms Against Supporters of CAB

To intensify the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, the students’ bodies plan to organise a protest on December 5.
Newsclick Report
03 Dec 2019
BJP-RSS Not Allowed: University Students

In a bid to register their protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), the students’ unions and alumni associations of universities in Assam have decided to deny entry to the members of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its students wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

The two universities where the entry has been banned for the supporters of CAB are Guwahati’s Cotton University and Dibrugarh University, reported PTI on Tuesday.

Speaking with NewsClick, Dibrugarh University Post Graduate Students’ Union (DBPGSU) General Secretary Rahul Chetry said that the students will not allow any organisation that extends its support to a Bill which seeks “to hamper the culture and tradition of Assam”.

Led by the DBPGSU, hundreds of students, who were also joined by the locals, took out a march on December 1 demanding withdrawal of the Bill from the Parliament. On Tuesday, the students have decided to host a black flag in the varsity.

The amendment Bill in question, CAB, seeks to amend the 1955’s Citizenship Act, that lays down who can be considered India’s citizen. The amendment proposes to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians from the three neighbouring countries (Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan) if they have lived in India for six years.

It should be noted that the Bill excludes Muslims, which means that once the amendment is passed, immigrants from other countries will have to show a six plus-year stay in India, while Muslims will have to show that they have resided in India for eleven years – an openly anti-Constitutional amendment.

“In a nation that boasts of its secularism, the CAB seeks to grant citizenship on religious lines, discriminating against the members of one religious community,” Chetry told NewsClick. Explaining how it will affect the Assamese tradition, Chetry said, “It is an attempt of the BJP government to bring Hindi-speaking Bangladeshi people into the state which goes hand in hand with the RSS’s agenda of turning this nation into Hindu Rashtra.”

The Bill was first brought in by the previous Narendra Modi government and was passed in the month of January this year. However, the bill lapsed because it was not tabled in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha term ended in May.

On Sunday, after meeting the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma indicated that the controversial Bill will be introduced and passed in Parliament by December 10.

To intensify the agitation, the students of both the universities plan to organise a protest against the Bill on December 5.

Protests have erupted across the Northeastern region in the past as well. In the month of November, North East Students’ Organisation (NESO), region’s umbrella body of students’ union, led a demonstration rally in the Northeastern states. A ‘Raj Bhavan Chalo’ agitation was also staged by Right to Information activist Akhil Gogoi-led Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), which ended after submitting a memorandum to the Assam state governor against the Bill—to be forwarded to the President.

“An Assam movement against illegal immigrants was led by the students in the 1980s. If the time demands, another movement will rise, this time joining all the Northeasten region together, against the imposition of the CAB,” Chetry said.

With Inputs From PTI

Citizenship Amendment Bill
BJP
RSS
ABVP
Cotton University
Dibrugarh University
Dibrugarh University Post Graduate Students’ Union
Citizenship Act 1955
Assam
Narendra Modi Government
Related Stories

Babri Demolition: 27 Years of Twists & Turns, With Many Witnesses Dead & Gone

Trump

Babri Demolition, Onion Prices, Trump's Impeachment and More

प्याज़ रुलाए

Soaring Onion Prices and 'Acche Din'

Babri Demolition

Babri Masjid Demolition: Journalists Recount Horror of Dec 6, 1992

Babri

Shared Heritage of Our Mosques and Mandirs

Ayodhya After Verdict

Disputed Site Transformed How Ayodhya Sees Itself: Valay Singh

How Babri Changed the Fabric of Everyday Life

Nine Deaths that Once Shook Mumbai

Crime against Women

‘Tired of Protests, Need Action!’

Workers

Why Construction Workers Are Protesting Against Modi Govt


Related Stories

Crime against women
Newsclick Team

Change in Society Needed Along with Strict Laws: Brinda Karat

07 December 2019
Against the backdrop of the increasing incidents of violence against women and deteriorating law and order in the country, NewsClick spoke
Dr Ambedkar
Newsclick & ICF Production

What Dr. Ambedkar's Legacy Means in 2019

06 December 2019
Sixty three years ago, on 6 December 1956, the first law minister and Constitution-writer, Dr BR Ambedkar, passed away.
Babri
Newsclick Team

Justice Pending in Babri Demolition Case

06 December 2019
Even after 27 years since the demolition of Babri masjid, the case is still in the trial court.

Pagination

  • Next page ››

More

  • Telangana HC to Start Hearing on Killings of 4 Rape Accused from Dec 9

    Telangana HC to Start Hearing on Killings of 4 Rape Accused from Dec 9

  • Hyderabad Rape Case

    Condemn Rape and Murder, Celebrate Encounter Killings?

  • Chen Quanguo, a senior leader of the communist party and the party secretary for Xinjiang, has been targeted under the Uyghur Act.

    US Bills Step on China’s Turf, Disrupt Trade Negotiations

  • Crime against women

    Change in Society Needed Along with Strict Laws: Brinda Karat

  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with
about
contact