Citizenship bill not acceptable: All Assam Students' Union

GUWAHATI: A day after Union home minister Amit Shah hinted at bringing back the citizenship amendment bill, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) hit back on Tuesday saying it will not accept the bill while the Congress said that reviving the bill will be a betrayal of the people of Northeast.
The bill proposes to amend the law to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Lurinjyoti Gogoi, general secretary of AASU, which spearheaded the six-year long anti-foreigners’ movement that led to the inking of the Assam Accord in 1985, told ET: “We will not accept the bill for it is unconstitutional and anti-Northeast India. We will evolve a national consensus against the bill. Citizenship cannot be on the basis of religion.”

Gogoi said the chief ministers of Meghalaya (Conrad K. Sangma), Nagaland (N Rio) and Mizoram (Zoramthanga) had also expressed concern on the bill. “However, it is unfortunate that Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who was himself an Aasu leader and product of the movement, was mum while Shah talked about bringing back the bill.”

Shah had said on Monday that the bill would not affect Article 371of the Constitution.