GUWAHATI, Oct 31 - The North East Students� Organisation (NESO) will stage demonstrations near the Raj Bhawans of the North East States in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on November 18.
The decision was taken during the executive council meeting of the organization held here today. The meeting was hosted by the All Assam Students� Union (AASU).
Announcing the decision, NESO adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya said, �The Bill is unconstitutional, illegal and anti-indigenous. We will not accept it under any circumstances because the North-East is not a dumping ground of illegal foreigners.�
Slamming the Central Government, Bhattacharya categorically stated that the students� community of the North-East region would continue the movement against the Bill. Moreover, the NESO today also urged all political figures of the region to stand against the move of the Central Government.
In today�s meeting, the NESO leadership decided to start an economic movement with the aim to create employment opportunities for the unemployed youth. For the purpose, the discussion with experts is under way. The NESO also demanded the Central Government to adopt a special economic policy for the all-round development of the region.
The meeting also expressed strong resentment over the new Draft Education Policy.
�The draft policy is not healthy for the student community of the North-East region. It is going to divide the student community into poor and rich categories and the society into developed and underdeveloped categories. The policy is not aiming to protect the indigenous languages of this region. The NESO has already written to the Central Government highlighting these issues and they must accept our demands,� Bhattacharya asserted.
The NESO leadership also raised the demand to establish new higher education institutions in both technical and non-technical streams along with the professional sector in the region with cent per cent funding from the Central Government. They also demanded all the State governments of the region to take steps to reserve jobs for local capable youth in both government and private sector entities.
The student body announced to set up coaching centres for various competitive examinations in the region. For this, the NESO has sought the support of the teaching community.
The meeting further demanded to start upgrading of the NRC, Inner-Line Permit and special constitutional status with rights on land and natural resources for the indigenous people for the entire region.
In this connection, Bhattacharya stated that the modality of upgrading the NRC might vary from State to State.
The meeting expressed its resentment over the proposed disinvestment of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) and privatization of the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL). It also decided to continue the movement against the construction of big dams in the North-East.
Meanwhile, the leadership of NESO demanded to vacate all educational institutions of Imphal, which are currently occupied by the paramilitary forces. They made it clear that the peace process with all armed groups should be continued to find out an all-acceptable and honourable solution.
The next general conference of the NESO would be held in Tripura on January next year.
