Assam minister cites Gauhati HC ruling, says bandh planned for tomorrow cannot be allowed

Guwahati: Citing a Gauhati High Court ruling, a senior Assam minister said the 12-hour Assam bandh, called by 46 organisations on Tuesday, cannot be allowed.

The high court in 2013 had banned bandhs in the state and termed it "unconstitutional and illegal".

File image of Himanta Biswa Sarma. Twitter @himantabiswa

The organisations have called the bandh to protest against the Centre's bid to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in the winter session of Parliament.

Political parties, including the Congress, have extended their support to the bandh, led by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), Assam Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Monday that Guwahati High Court had ruled that calling a bandh was an illegal act and so the bandh called by 46 organisations cannot be allowed.

The high court had ruled in 2013 that calling bandh was illegal and as such "we have to follow the court's order and ensure that there is no bandh Tuesday," Sarma told reporters in Guwahati.

"All shops and business establishments should remain open while government employees must report for their duties or else it will be treated as a contempt of court," he said.

KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi said that this was the first time that they had called a bandh and would not call it off as the very "existence of the Assamese people and their identity is at stake".

Sarma also said that following an assessment of the prevailing law and order situation in the state, permission will not be granted for the 17 November convention organized by the Citizen Right Protection Forum, Assam (CRPFA), a conglomeration of 26 Bengali organisations, in support of the Citizenship Bill.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before 31 December, 2014.