Northeast Burning, It’s A Repeat Of Jammu And Kashmir, Says Ghulam Nabi Azad

Terming the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) passed by Parliament unconstitutional, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Thursday that the entire northeast is “burning” in protest against the legislation, and what is happening in the region is a repeat of what happened in Jammu and Kashmir. The Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said the Congress has been trying to highlight that the bill “violated” constitutional provisions and the government was “suppressing” the voice of people from the northeast.

Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance earlier in the day to the people of Assam, the epicenter of the anti-CAB protests, that their culture and rights would not be affected, Azad said assurances don’t really matter when people are being “killed“. “By imposing Section 144 (restricting assembly of four or more people), curfew and ordering lathi-charge, and not allowing people to speak out, you are killing them. Do assurances really matter thereafter? It is the same as what has happened with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. What is happening in the northeastern states is a repeat of what has happened in J&K,” he told reporters here.