AS-BILL-KMSS

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti

(KMSS) Adviser Akhil Gogoi on Sunday appealed to opposition

Congress to ensure defeat of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

in the Rajya Sabha.

Gogoi said the KMSS will try to meet all other

opposition parties to convince them to stand against the bill

in the Upper House, where the controversial document is likely

to be placed for passage during the Budget Session beginning

January 31.

He criticised the Congress for "not taking strong

stand" against the bill, when it was introduced and passed in

the Lok Sabha on January 8.

"Congress should play its national role. The people of

Assam are keenly watching them. So, I appeal them to stake a

bold step and ensure that it is never passed in the Rajya

Sabha," the peasant leader said in a press conference here.

The Congress will become history if it wants to play

the "soft Hindutva card" and directly or indirectly supports

the bill for passage in the Upper House, he said.

"We will try to meet the Trinamool Congress, the

JD(U), the RJD, the Aam Aadmi Party, parties from the south

and all other parties to request them not to support the

bill," Gogoi said.

The firebrand RTI activist also warned the Centre and

the state that if it is passed, then the "law and order

situation in north east is surely going to deteriorate" and

the BJP-led government will be responsible for that.

Gogoi had Friday announced that he will hold a 24-hour

hunger strike on Monday during the coming 'Magh Bihu'

festival, of which community feast is an integral part, to

protest against the bill.

On 'Uruka' night, the first day of the three-day Magh

Bihu, people enjoy community feast with new harvest and it is

one of the main attractions of the festival. Magh Bihu is one

of the three Bihu festivals of the state.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill seeks to amend the

Citizenship Act, 1955 to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus,

Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who fled

religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and

entered India before December 31, 2014, after six years of

residence in the country, instead of the current 12 years,

even if they do not possess any proper documents.