Arunachal students protest against Citizenship Act

ITANAGAR: Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which has now become an Act after the President’s assent, continued across Itanagar on Friday, with thousands of students and people from different walks of life taking part in a massive protest rally.
Thousands of students, led by Rajiv Gandhi University Students’ Union (RGUSU) and Students’ Union of NERIST (SUN), organized a march from Rajiv Gandhi University to Raj Bhavan, covering a distance of 30 kilometers.The students also boycotted the ongoing semester examinations.
Local residents and people from Itanagar’s Assamese community also joined the rally, opposing the controversial Act. Anti-BJP slogans echoed in the air as the protestors marched towards the Raj Bhavan holding banners and placards to vent their anger. The protesters also submitted a memorandum to Governor Brig (Retd) BD Mishra.
“We oppose the Act and want its complete withdrawal from the region. The controversial Act will divide the region on religious lines and jeopardize the existence of the indigenous people,” the protestors said. The protesters were of the opinions that even as Arunachal Pradesh is protected under the inner line permit regime as per the provisions of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, and the Chin Hills Regulation, 1896, the regulations only provide a legal and a constitutional safeguard to the indigenous people.
“Assam is the nucleus of the northeast. When gets affected, the entire region will suffer,” the protesters said. They also criticized Union minister of state (independent) for sports and youth affairs Kiren Rijiju for not taking part in the protests. Meanwhile, parts of Arunachal, especially the state capital, has been hit by a fuel crisis because of the protests with all the petrol depots running dry. All the petrol depots in the state capital remained closed during the day and opened only in the evening for a few hours to supply fuel to people who stood for hours in long queues, triggering traffic snarls