Jaipur: As protests against the Narendra Modi government’s Citizen (Amendment) Act, 2019 intensify across the nation, civil society groups in Assam are all set to challenge the legislation in the Supreme Court.
Earlier, the six petitioners – former teacher and activist Hiren Gohain, senior journalist Manjit Mahanta, former Assam DGP Hare Krishna Deka, journalist and politician Haider Hussain, Santanu Barthakur and activist and filmmaker Deben Tamuly – had filed a petition against the Citizen (Amendment) Bill when it was first brought up in the previous session of parliament. At the time, however, the Supreme Court had rejected the petition, stating that the government didn’t bring the Bill to the Rajya Sabha.
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The petition was raised on two grounds: One, that the Citizen (Amendment) Act is a threat to the independent identity of the Assamese and the indigenous people of Assam and militates against the federal spirit and basic principles of the constitution. Two, that it is a threat to the secular fabric of the constitution and the nation, and its imposition will make India a majoritarian nation.
“In Assam, we have long maintained an atmosphere of communal harmony inspite of some aberrations here and there. Hence, our struggle is a contribution to the struggle for secular India,” Gohain told The Wire.
“We are soon going to file a fresh petition in the apex court,” he added.
Gohain is also part of a civil society group – Assam Nagarik Samaj (Assam Citizens Group) – which has been protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. In January this year, the police filed sedition charges against the organisation and Gohain for opposing the proposed law.