The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is a “divisive tool” that will damage the composite culture of the Northeast and must be immediately scrapped, two-time Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said on Thursday as massive protests against the proposed legislation rocked the region.
The CAB has been brought in to create a Hindu-Muslim divide, said the former student leader who spearheaded a six-year movement demanding deportation of illegal Bangladeshis in the late 1980s.
The State will continue to “burn” if the Modi government does not realise the seriousness of the situation and respect the sentiments of the people, the leader of the Asom Gana Parishad said.
‘We will not relent’
“Every nook and corner in Assam is erupting in spontaneous protests against the black bill. The people of Assam are determined to defeat this divisive and unconstitutional tool called CAB. We will not relent till it is scrapped,” Mr. Mahanta told PTI over phone from Guwahati.
Asked why several leaders of the party he had founded in 1985 are defending the CAB and why the party’s alliance with the BJP is still intact, he said it is but a small group and does not reflect the AGP’s views.
A number of AGP leaders have resigned from the party alleging that it has failed to stand with the people of Assam when they are facing an “existential crisis”.
Mr. Mahanta also cautioned the Central government that the situation in Assam may take a “dangerous turn” and any delay in taking the right decision may cause unimaginable harm to the region.
“The indigenous people of Assam and the Northeast are staring at an existential threat to their composite culture. The proposed law will open the floodgates of illegal foreigners to the region. We are determined to fight it out till our last breath,” said Mr. Mahanta, who was Assam chief minister from 1985 to 1990 and then from 1996 to 2001.
Referring to the bill being cleared by Parliament, the former Chief Minister said the “majority” is not the essence of democracy.
