Former CM Tarun Gogoi: Never seen such situation in Assam, it's worse than Emergency

As Citizenship Amendment Bill was cleared in both the houses of parliament, Assam's former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday spoke about the Bill (now Act) and ongoing protests in Assam over the implementation of the Act.

The former Assam CM called the ongoing protests to be worst than an emergency. Gogoi said, "The sentiment of Assam on language and culture is different. The Central government is insulting their sentiment. I have never seen such a situation in Assam ever. This is worse than Emergency."

Adding to his statement further, the former Assam CM reacted to the Prime Minister's assurance to the people of Assam. He stated, "They defied Prime Minister's assurance. The government could have delayed the bill for 15 days."

Tarun Gogoi also informed that the next time their government comes into power, they will not implement the Citizenship Amendment Bill. He said, "next time if we come to power we will not implement CAB. We will also bring a law where we won't allow land and employment to people who have come to India after the year 1971."

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About CAB

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian communities who fleed fearing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, and entered India on or before December 31, 2014. CAB was approved by the Parliament after Rajya Sabha passed the bill on December 11.

125 members of the Rajya Sabha voted in favour of the Bill while 105 MPs voted against the Bill. BJP's former ally Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting. The Bill, which grants citizenship to the non-Muslims who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, was approved by the lower house of the parliament on Monday night with a majority of 311 votes against 80 votes. 391 members were present in Lok Sabha at the time of voting.

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