HNLC
File photo of HNLC cadres.

Banned militant outfit Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has lambasted Meghalaya High Court Judge SR Sen for supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and making a judgement in favour of turning India a Hindu nation.

The outfit has also asked Justice Sen to step down from his post.

Also read: India should have been declared a Hindu country: Meghalaya High Court

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, introduced by the BJP-led NDA Government in Parliament, seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, and provide citizenship to migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian extraction. Several parties and organisations in the Northeast, especially in Assam, are protesting against this Bill.

Allowing a writ petition filed by one Amon Rana, an Army recruit, who was denied domicile certificate by the Meghalaya Government, Justice SR Sen said on Wednesday that the Centre should have a law allowing Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, Christians, Khasis, Jaintias and Garos from neighbouring countries to live in India “with full dignity without making any cut-off year and be given citizenship without any question or production of any document”.

Expressing strong concern over Justice Sen’s comment, in a statement, Saiñkupar Nongtraw, general secretary-cum-publicity secretary, HNLC, stated on Thursday: “Justice SR Sen has hurt the sentiments of the people of entire North East by supporting the citizenship Amendment bill 2016. He is singing to the tunes of the Hindutva regime. Christian minorities are already not safe in India, inviting Christian minorities from other countries is a plan to further demoralize them divide them and plant the Hindutva seed.”

The HNLC publicity secretary also stated: “By inviting the Christians and giving them shelter the Hindutva forces shall convert them forcibly into Hindus like it was done in Hindu majority States.”

Regarding the statement by Justice Sen that India “should have also been declared a Hindu country”, Nongtraw stated: “The idea of SR Sen to convert India into a Hindu nation is an insult to the Indian Constitution. His main agenda is to amend the Indian constitution and delete the word secular, thereby paving way for an Hindu nation. Our region is already full of illegal immigrants which has shown its presence in states like Tripura, Assam, etc.”

Stating that “the idea behind his judgment is to attain big berth in the BJP regime after his retirement”, Nongtraw further stated: “This is a political motivated statement and not a judgment. This has exposed that the Indian judiciary system is nothing but indoctrination.”

Demanding the Justice Sen’s resignation from his post, Nongtraw stated: “Our state cannot afford to have such a religious fanatic Judge in the judiciary. He should immediately step down from his post.”

Nongtraw also requested the pressure groups from the entire Northeast to demand his removal from the judiciary.

“His statement would create more law and order problems in the region and the country. Let him become the Prime Minister of the Hindu nation and resign from his post,” added Nongtraw.