New Delhi: BJP ally in Assam Asom Gana Parishad intends to challenge the Citizenship Amendment Act in the Supreme Court. The decision was taken after a meeting of top party leaders in Guwahati on Saturday night.
A three-member AGP team will travel to Delhi on Sunday to meet experts and Supreme Court lawyers, and find a solution to exempt the Brahmaputra valley from the ambit of the amended act.
News agency PTI quoted AGP leader Kumar Deepak Das as saying that the party respects the sentiments of common people, who were wary that the law might threaten their identity and existence.
"We will take the legal route to seek revocation of the amended Act as the indigenous people of Assam are apprehensive that their identity, language might come under
threat," Das, a former Rajya Sabha MP, said.
Assam has been rocked by violent protests following parliamentary passage and presidential assent to the politically contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill, which provides for granting citizenship to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The bill, however, bars extending this facility to Muslims from the neighbouring country.
The Asom Gana Parishd, born out of students’ agitation in the 1970s against illegal migration to Assam, is currently part of the Sarbananda Sonowal government in the state. Its lone member in the Rajya Sabha voted in favour of the bill.
After strong reactions in the Brahamaputra valley, the party has been forced to reconsider its decision.
Comments
0 comment