APCC President Ripun Bora condemns CAB, says, 'BJP murdering constitution'

The President of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) Ripun Bora. on Friday, staged a protest in the Parliament against the introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 calling it a 'murder of the Constitution by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'. "Today, all the Congress workers in the state of Assam are staging a hunger strike to protest against the CAB. Since I could not be there with them, I have started a protest alone in the Parliament to show solidarity with the workers," said Bora to ANI. The Congress party last week staged a walkout from the Assam Assembly demanding suspension of the question hour and to hold a discussion on Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). The main opposition party in the house not only walked out but also staged a sit-in demonstration in the lobby. Few of the MLAs also slept on the floor during the protests.

Read:Assam: Cong stages walkout from Assembly over NRC, Citizenship Ammendment Bill

"I want to remind the BJP that they have murdered democracy and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam, and they are going to murder the Constitution and the Assam Accord," said Ripun Bora.

Recently, the All Assam Student Union (AASU) Adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya had called the Citizenship Amendment Bill 'communal and unconstitutional' saying that it violated the Assam accord and protected the interests of illegal Bangladeshi's. Several Northeastern states including Assam have opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The Union Cabinet has given a positive nod to the bill and it is expected to be tabled in both houses of the Parliament by next week.

Read:Tarun Gogoi: CAB will definitely affect the culture and heritage of the people of Assam

What is the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill?

The Citizenship Bill seeks to grant citizenship to all non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they faced religious persecution in these neighbouring countries. Union minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday asked BJP MPs to be present in large numbers in the Parliament when Home Minister Amit Shah tables the Citizenship Bill in Parliament. At a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, Rajnath Singh said that the three neighbouring countries were essentially Islamic nations and so it is non-Muslims and not Muslims who are at the receiving end of religious persecution there. "Minorities in the neighbouring theocratic countries have been subjected to continuous persecution, which forced them to seek asylum in India. Giving citizenship to six minorities is in the spirit of Sarva Dharma Sambhav," Singh said.

Read:Assam: Cong's Debabrata Saikia calls CAB 'unconstitutional' after Union Cabinet clears it

Read:Assam students' union adviser: Citizenship Bill is 'çommunal', violates Assam accord

(With Inputs from ANI)