Modo's effigy burnt in Lakhimpur, Assam
AASU members burn effigies of PM, Modi and Tripura CM, Biplab Kumar Deb on Saturday in Lakhimpur protesting Citizenship Bill. Image: Northeast Now

North Lakhimpur unit of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on Saturday burnt effigies of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Tripura Chief Minister, Biplab Deb over their roles in supporting the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016.

The Bill was passed in Lok Sabha to pave the way to grant citizenship to persecuted people from religious minority communities coming from the neighbouring countries on Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Bill now needs to be passed in Rajya Sabha to become an Act.

The North Lakhimpur-AASU led by its president Dhan Mani Dutta and secretary Pranjeet Gogoi burnt the effigies Modi and Deb in front of the Zila Parishad office in North Lakhimpur opposing Citizenship Bill 2016.

The slogan-shouting members of the students’ body condemned Prime Minister Modi for his support to settle Hindu Bangladeshis in Assam through the bill and came down heavily on Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb over the incident of firing by Tripura police on protesters during  the 11-hour bandh called by North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) on Tuesday.

Six youths were injured in the police firing, at Khumulwng in Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), nearly 25 Km from Agartala.

Later a delegation of NESO visiting Tripura to call on their injured supporters were barred from meeting them by the Tripura government prompting widespread condemnation across the Northeast. North Lakhimpur-AASU also blocked roads at North Lakhimpur in the main intersection of the town protesting the bill.

Farhana Ahmed is Northeast Now Correspondent in North Lakhimpur. She can be reached at: [email protected]