GUWAHATI, Oct 19 - Former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today said that all sections of indigenous people of Assam must fight together against the Central government�s move to grant citizenship to foreigners who came to Assam after the midnight of Match 24, 1971.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Mahanta, one of the signatories of the Assam Accord, warned that the indigenous people of Assam would have to suffer economically and politically if the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which aims to provide citizenship to foreigners, is converted into an Act. He pointed out that the Bill is totally against the Assam Accord, as per which, all foreigners who came to Assam after the midnight of March 24, 1971 should be detected and deported from the State.
Mahanta said that various organisations of the State have launched agitations against the Central government�s move. But there is a need for a united move against the Centre�s decision.
He expressed the view that the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) should take the lead in uniting all sections of indigenous people for a mass movement against the Centre�s decision as the student organisation had done during the Assam Agitation. During the Assam Agitation, the AASU and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad managed to unite all sections of people of Assam for a mass movement for detection and deportation of foreigners from the State and a similar effort is needed now to protect the identity of the indigenous people of the State, he added.
