GUWAHATI: The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) observed the third anniversary of the passage of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), which subsequently became the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, on Sunday as “Black Day.”
It was on this day in 2019 that the Centre passed the CAB in Parliament ignoring the opposition from indigenous groups and organisations in the Northeast.
Various students’ organisations, which come under the NESO, put up black flags and black banners at important places as a mark of protest on Sunday.
NESO chairman Samuel B Jyrwa said that December 11 would always be remembered as a Black Day in the entire Northeast.
“This observation is to give a message to the Government of India that we are against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and also to remind our people and our future generations of the political injustice that the Government of India had done to the indigenous peoples of the Northeast,” Jyrwa said.
The NESO appealed to people to keep fighting for the just cause of “our God-given right.”
Political party Assam Jatiya Parishad observed the day as the “Day of Deception.” The party, which was formed in the backdrop of the anti-CAA protests in Assam, also staged a two-hour sit-in in Guwahati.
The anti-CAA protests in 2020 claimed the lives of five persons, including a school student, in Assam.