GUWAHATI: The fraternity of university students in the Northeast has called for a “total shutdown” of all varsities and colleges in the region on Wednesday, the day when the Supreme Court will hear a bevy of petitions which challenged the validity of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The students’ fraternity is hopeful that the apex court will give relief either by striking down the Act or exempting the Northeast from its purview.
The universities include Gauhati University, Dibrugarh University, North Eastern Hill University, Tezpur University, Assam Women’s University, Assam Agricultural University, Nagaland University, Rajiv Gandhi University and NERIST.
The amended Citizenship Act will grant Indian citizenship to immigrants belonging to six non-Muslim religious communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came till December 31, 2014.