By Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati : The North East Students Organization (NESO), an organization of eight student bodies of the North Eastern Region, took out a march on Tonday against the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, protesting across the region.he controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament on Monday and will continue till 13 December. The Bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955. It aims to provide Indian citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.The All Assam Students Union (AASU), the major constituent of NESO in Guwahati, performed in front of the Raj Bhavan.

Several hundred activists of the student organization marched till Raj Bhavan and raised slogans against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.Apart from Guwahati, demonstrations were also held in other areas. All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU), Khasi Students Union (KSU), Mizo Zirlai Paval (MZP), Garo Students Union (GSU), Naga Students Federation (NSF), Twipra Student Federation (TSF), All Manipur Students Union ( AMSU) protested against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in other states of the Northeast region.On the other hand The Mamata Benerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) on today has pledged to oppose the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which is likely to be tabled in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.On Today, a delegation of the Northeast Students’ Organization (NESO) delegation, which has been organizing protests against the controversial Bill across the Northeast, met Trinamool Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy, who assured that the party would oppose the Bill both within and outside Parliament.

All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) leader Dipanka Kumar Nath told mediapersons that the NESO delegation appealed to Roy’s support in garnering opposition to the Bill, and explained to him how it was “communal, anti-Constitutional, and against the interests of indigenous people. Roy, in turn, assured that the TMC had stood against the Bill in the past, and would continue to do so in the future as well.It is to be added here that the NESO delegation also met Shillong MP Vincent Pala and Meghalaya Cabinet Minister, Banteidor Lyngdoh, to urge them to oppose the Bill. It may be mentioned here that the NESO — consisting of the All Assam Students’ Union, All Arunachal Students’ Union, All Manipur Students’ Union, Naga Students’ Federation, Khasi Students’ Union, Garo Students’ Union, Mizo Zirlai Pawl, and Twipra Students’ Federation — has been opposing the Bill tooth-and-nail, and on November 22, staged protests across all Northeastern states.