Main Goal is to Separate Assam & NE from Rest of India: Shaheen Bagh Protest Leader

Guwahati, January 25, 2020:

Former JNU student and mastermind of the Shaheen Bagh protests Sharjeel Imam has landed in the soup after he made a controversial statement saying that Muslims, who according to him are in "great numbers", can separate the Northeast Indian states from mainland India.

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Sharjeel, addressing the protesters, told the people to join in large numbers and block the railway tracks and roads.

Imam, addressing a gathering mainly consisting of Muslims, said, "If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If not permanently then at least for 1-2 months we can do this. It will take the administration at least one month to disperse all of them. It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India when this will happen, only then the Centre will listen to us."

This comment by the leader has stoked the fires of controversy, especially in Assam, which has been on the boil ever since the Government's move to amend the 'Citizenship Act'. People have poured out in the street in general discontent over the imposition of the legislation that is seen as a threat to the culture, language, and identity of the indigenous people.

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The standoff between India and China in Doklam was Beijing’s strategy to isolate Northeast from the rest of India by taking control of the Chicken Neck (Siliguri Corridor). Imam has talked about the same strategy to create division between the Northeast and the mainlaind, and his incendiary statement has .

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