BJP leaders from the Northeast have expressed satisfaction over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, that was approved by the Union cabinet on Wednesday.

Union minister of state for sports and youth affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is from Arunachal Pradesh, said there was nothing to worry in CAB for the indigenous people.

Rijiju, who was here to attend a function, said, “When the bill comes up for discussion in Parliament it will become clear that the indigenous people of the Northeast are well-protected and are given all support by the government.”

He said the provisions of the bill have been discussed by Union home minister Amit Shah during his meetings with various society organisations of the region. “The basic concerns of the indigenous people of the Northeast are being addressed and being considered,” Rijiju added.

Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb said CAB was not some major development or change but it was meant to protect the people of the country.

“It is the duty of the state and nation to protect the well-being of every citizen,” he said.

Deb also said it was a small initiative to develop the nation while claiming that no one in the country, not even in the Northeast, had opposed CAB.

Deb said whatever needs to be done to protect the citizens of the region, everything has been mentioned in the bill. “With this, the country will be safe and it is the duty of the home ministry to do so.”

He also said people should first try to understand what CAB and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are all about. “You first study about CAB and the NRC and then only make comments,” he said.

Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu claimed he does not see CAB as problematic for the state since it was protected under Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873.

Khandu said in the Northeast, every state had its own unique provisions under the Constitution.

Sahitya Sabha stand

The Asam Sahitya Sabha and several other organisations protested against the citizenship bill through various programmes in Jorhat on Friday.

Members of Sabha, the oldest literary body in the state, staged a two-hour sit-in at Radha Kanta Handiqui Bhawan next to its headquarters in Jorhat at the Chandrakanta Handiqui Bhawan.

Members of the 103-year-old institution in the state also submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the deputy commissioner’s office in Jorhat in which it was stated that the Sabha has already made it known to Union home minister Amit Shah that it was opposed to the bill, which would make the indigenous people a minority in their own land.

A mass convention and protest march was held on Friday at the Old Bus stand in Duliajan in Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district, demanding scrapping of the bill. Altogether 3,000 took part in the march.

The Tezpur Sahitya Sabha and Asom Sagrami Mancha on Friday staged a dharna against the bill. The protesters criticized AGP president Atul Bora along with senior AGP leaders Keshab Mahanta and Phani Bhuhan Sarma. They also shouted slogans against Sarbananda Sonowal and Himanta Biswa Sarma and the BJP.

Additional reporting by Devajit Baruah in Jorhat, Pradip Kumar Neog in Duliajan and our correspondent in Tezpur