Making its stand on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, the Assam BJP on Thursday said that the state can be saved from becoming a 'Kashmir' only with the implementation of the Bill coupled with enforcing the Assam Accord's Clause VI and ST status to six communities.
Addressing a rally of party workers in Guwahati, state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he cannot allow Assam to become the next 'Jammu and Kashmir'.
Mr Sarma's statement came a day after student outfits from all the northeastern states under the banner of North East Students' Organization (NESO) gathered in Guwahati on Wednesday and warned the BJP-led government at the centre and the state against the Bill.
The students' bodies' rally also termed Prime minister Narendra Modi and Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal as "saviour and protector of illegal immigrants" from Bangladesh.
"In 1971 Hindus in Assam accounted for 71 per cent of the population. It came down to 61 per cent in 2011. By 2021 if the eight lakh population of Hindu Bengali from Bangladesh is taken out from Assam, the community's population of Assam will reduce to a mere 51 or 52 per cent, which will pave the way for Badruddin Ajmal or Sirajudin Ajmal to become chief minister of the state," Mr Sarma said.