GUWAHATI, June 11 - Members of the 11 constituent parties of the Left-Democratic Manch, Assam, took out a procession to Raj Bhavan today demanding scrapping of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
The procession started from the Lakhidhar Bora Kshetra on the southern bank of the Dighalipukhuri and hundreds of members of the Manch parties took part in it.
Earlier, addressing an impromptu meeting at the Lakhidhar Bora Kshetra, scholar Dr Hiren Gohain alleged that with its efforts to grant citizenship to post-1971 migrants on the basis of religion, the Government was trying to subject Assam to serious political, economical and cultural crisis.
Condemning the recent murder of two youths at Dokmoka in Karbi Anglong, Dr Gohain appealed to the people to be vigilant against any move to create fratricidal clashes by any forces taking advantage of this incident.
He also called upon the people to continue their struggle against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill until it is scrapped. Senior CPI-M leader Hemen Das, CPI State Committee secretary Munin Mahanta, CPI-ML leader Pankaj Das, senior CPI leader Paresh Barua and Left-Democratic Manch convenor Deben Bhattacharya also addressed the meeting.
Participants in the procession displayed placards, banners and flags of their respective parties and shouted slogans demanding scrapping of the Bill.
A 12-member delegation of the Manch later met Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi at Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister.
The Manch alleged that the Bill was contrary to the provisions of the Constitution and was also violative of the provisions of the Assam Accord, which set March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for detection and deportation of illegal migrants.
