Endorsing the 11-hour Northeast bandh call on December 10 by the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) against Citizenship Amendment Bill, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) appealed people to cooperate and support this bandh call.
Addressing a press conference in Itanagar on December 8, AAPSU vice-president Meje Taku informed that the AAPSU, in its executive meeting unanimously agreed to comply with NESO ‘order’ to have Northeast shutdown on December 10, from 0500 hours to 1600 hours, against the Centre’s proposed move to bring in the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in the parliament.
In this regard, all the presidents and general secretaries of all our federating units – district students unions, various universities and college students bodies have been ‘directed to arrange requisite materials and manpower for the success of the democratic movement in the all districts in the state’, he stated.
Taku, however, said that essential public services like ambulance, milk van, press personnel, magistrate on duty, police, para-military forces are exempted from the purview of the bandh call.
Appealing all the former leaders, various NGOs, community-based organistaions and people of Arunachal Pradesh for their cooperation, the student leader said, “This (bandh) is for the welfare of the indigenous people of Arunachal and Northeast”.
Reiterating their strong opposition, Taku said, “All the constituent organizations of NESO including AAPSU are against the Bill,” adding, “Our stand is very clear, no CAB, means no”.
Asked about reports of states including Arunachal Pradesh having ILP system won’t be affected by CAB, the AAPSU leader said, “Today, though, we are exempted, our stand is with NESO and other states like Assam, Manipur and Tripura”.
The CAB is likely to be tabled in the parliament soon. The bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
