Arunachal MP Tapir Gao Voices Citizenship Bill Concerns at Parliament

Guwahati, November 22, 2019:

Arunachal Pradesh MP Tapir Gao voiced his concerns regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 at the Parliament while addressing the speaker, and said that the Bill will bring "negative apprehensions" in the Northeast and Arunachal Pradesh.

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Addressing the speaker, Tapir Gao said that the NGOs, students’ bodies and other organizations demanded protection of 'tribal rights' and 'land rights'. These already exist from the British Colonial rule under the Bengal Easter Frontier Regulations 1873, Chin Hill Act 1896- section 20, 22, 23 and 40, he said.

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Gao also asked all these provisions and acts to be incorporated in the Citizenship Bill in order to eliminate the negative apprehensions from the state and in Northeast.

He demanded incorporation of Article 371, A to Z, all the 6th Schedule States and Autonomous Districts in the North Eastern region to eliminate all the negative apprehension following the proposal for the implementation of the Citizenship Bill.

It may be mentioned here that people from many sections of society in the Northeast are protesting tooth-and-nail against the Bill, which seeks to give "citizenship" to persecuted migrants from neighboring countries.

Yesterday, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) staged a torchlight protest in Guwahati to mark their opposition to the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, likely to be introduced in the winter session of the Parliament. The AASU leaders further warned the Government that they will not accept the Bill, nor the ‘Bangladeshis’ it seeks to give refuge to.

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