AS-CITIZENSHIP-STRIP

Strip protests continued

over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill on Friday as

one man removed his clothes in front of the deputy

commissioner's office at Jorhat to express his disapproval of

slapping of sedition charges on litterateur Hiren Gohain.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by

the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to grant Indian citizenship

to non-Muslims who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh,

Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31,

2014.

The man, identified as Mantu Dutta, came before the

deputy commissioner's office, shouted "Joi Aai Asom" (glory to

mother Assam) and stripped alleging that the government is

playing "dirty politics by slapping sedition charges on Hiren

Gohain. He should not be arrested".

Sahitya Akademi awardee and former Guwahati University

professor Hiren Gohain was booked under sedition laws suo motu

by the police on Thursday for his alleged remarks on the

citizenship bill. The Gauhati High Court on Friday granted

interim bail to him.

Warning the BJP-led government in the state of massive

agitations if the Bill is passed also in Rajya Sabha, Dutta

shouted, "Time and again we have been saying the government

should not play with the emotions of the people".

"We have been protesting peacefully till now. The BJP

leaders should stop acting like brokers and take immediate

steps for stopping passage of the Bill", said Dutta as he was

taken away from the place by the police.

Earlier, a group of men from Assam had stripped in

front of the Parliament building claiming the Bill had made

the people of Assam naked by threatening their identity,

culture, language, state and heritage.

One person also removed his clothes in Tinsukia on the

same day over the issue.

Assamese students in Delhi have also demonstrated in

Delhi against the Bill, while a candlelight vigil was taken

out on Thursday evening at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai, reports

reaching in Guwahati said.