JPC disregarded all suggestions of Opposition members”: Bhuwaneshwar Kalita

Guwahati, January 4, 2019:

Congress MP Bhubeneshwar Kalita, who is member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), walked out of the committee meeting which had been held to adopt a report clearing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which seeks amendments of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

The committee consists of 14 members from the BJP, four from Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal, while several other regional parties have one member each.

Addressing the media, Kalita alleged that the JPC has rejected all the suggestions of the opposition members.

“To take up any Bill, a committee needs to discuss it taking account of both the proposers and opposition. But this was not the case here, as the committee was not ready to hold any discussion. The committee meeting was held just to inform us about the adoption of the bill which forced me to walk out of the meeting,” Kalita said.

He further added that the report has been prepared by making clever changes in the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord which in turn will dilute the Clause 5 (detection, deletion and deportation of the illegal migrants that came to the state after the proposed deadline of March 24, 1971).