Manipur People against Citizenship Amendment Bill (MANPAC) staged a protest on Thursday against the re-introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The protests were seen in Imphal, Kohima, and Itanagar.
The protests saw the active participation of student groups and civil society associations. Demonstartion saw the ringing of bells along with the shouting of slogans like, “No implementation of CAB in the North East“, “No enforcement of CAB in Manipur“, “Indigenous people of Manipur must be safeguarded“, “Long live Manipur“, etc. People also formed human chains and displayed placards regarding the same.
Dilipkumar Yamancha, the convenor of the MANPAC, said that if needed they will seek the intervention of the United Nations in the matter.
As quoted by ANI, he said, ” vendors markets, school and college students, local club members, womenfolk and members of civil society organizations gathered and formed human chains and gave a clarion call by ringing bells simultaneously to reiterate the collective stand against the Bill.” MANPAC also iterated its view that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will make the Assam Accord void.
Nagaland Joint Committee on Prevention of Illegal Immigrants carried out the protest in the Kohima region. In Assam, even the All-Assam Students Union (AASU) which has been the frontrunner int the signing of Assam Accord said that the Citizenship Amendment Bill is the gross violation of the constitution.
While on the other hand, Syed Muminul Aowal, BJP spokesperson and chairman of the Assam Minority Development Board slammed the opposition parties for using the CAB agenda for furthering their political interests.
Citizenship Amendment Bill-
The above-mentioned bill seeks to declare Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for citizenship who came to India before December 31, 2014. The Bill only carries the provision of citizenship for the non-muslim population that arrived from the neighboring nations.
The fear over the bill has increased since the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) meeting chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah said that that the Bill would be passed in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament.