AAPSU announces strike against Citizenship Amendment Bill

The All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union (AAPSU) announced an 11-hour strike in support of the North East Students' Organisation (NESO), against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019. The protests included a total shut down of North East India. Parties and organisations such as the Congress, AIUDF, All Assam Students Union, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union, Khasi Students Union, and the Naga Students Federation are backing the NESO to observe the bandh.

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Massive protests in the North-East

A total of 16 left-leaning organisations such as the SFI, DYFI, AIDWA, AISF, AISA, and the IPTA has also called a 12-hour bandh in Assam, coinciding with the NESO-organised shutdown. Gauhati University and Dibrugarh University in the state have postponed all the examinations scheduled for tomorrow. The Bill would not be applicable to Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram where the ILP system exists and those tribal regions of Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura which are governed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

The Bill was passed in the Parliament at midnight after a discussion throughout the day after a vote which saw 311 votes in its favour and 80 against it out of 391 members who were present and voting. The next challenge for the union government will now be a passage through Rajya Sabha where the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is currently in minority and will be banking on the support of like-minded parties to push through the legislation.

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The CAB was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Home Minister on Monday afternoon and it was followed by a heated debate and discussion in the Lower House of the Parliament. The Bill has been declared unconstitutional by the opposition parties, saying that it segregates people on the basis of religion and is against the Constitution of India and the idea of secularism. AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, in a dramatic protest, tore apart the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 arguing that it was anti-national. Ripping apart the Bill introduced by Home Minister Amit Shah, Owaisi claimed that it will lead to a new partition of the country. The Congress party called the bill communal in nature and said that it was further dividing the country. Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said the issue of citizenship was being politicised and that the government has a political motive behind the move. 

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(With inputs from ANI)