Student bodies who forms part of the North East Students Organisation (NESO), the Khasi Student’s Union (KSU) and Garo Student’s Union (GSU), today observed ‘Black Day’ in Meghalaya raising black flags and banners in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by the Central government.
It was on December 11 that the BJP-led NDA government passed the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the parliament despite widespread protest in the North East.
In Shillong, KSU hung banners that read, ‘December 11, 2019 the day CAA became an Act, a black day for the indigenous NE communities’, ‘Replace CAA with ILP in Meghalaya’ and ‘NESO will never accept CAA.’
The KSU, through the banners also reminded the death of its member at Ichamati in protest against the Act. ‘Lurshai Hynñiewta was killed because of CAA, a sign of darker days ahead,’ the banner reads.
In Mawkyrwat, effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were burnt by the KSU.
NESO chairman, Samuel B Jyrwa said “This observation is to give a message to the Government of India that we are against this Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 and also at the same time to remind our people and our posterior of yet another political injustice that the Government of India perpetrated on the indigenous peoples of the North East.”
