JPC members want Northeast to be excluded from Citizenship Bill purview

Guwahati, October 24, 2018:

The meeting over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) held in New Delhi on Tuesday was inconclusive after some Congress MPs, who are JPC members, suggested the Northeast should be kept outside the bill’s purview.

JPC chairman Rajendra Agarwal said due to lack of time it might not be possible for the JPC to submit the report and as such, the government could not be able to take a decision on the bill. However, the some members insisted on the submission of the report.

They said if the JPC does not submit the report then the government might take advantage of the situation and pass the bill.

Expressing his opposition to the bill, Congress MP Bhubaneswar Kalita said the entire Northeast should be kept out of the purview of the bill.

Supporting Kalita, Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress suggested that the Bangladeshi immigrants should be kept outside the bill’s purview. He suggested giving citizenship to the immigrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Three government ministries including Home Affairs, External Affairs and Law and Justice were asked to give written replies to the queries asked by the MPs by October 30.

According to reports, the Ministry of Home Affairs was in favour of the bill. Similarly, the Ministry of Law and Justice said it was a badly-drafted piece of legislation and may not stand legal scrutiny.

It was also suggested that before taking any decision on the bill, the JPC should visit Assam and Tripura for a second time and talk to the people. The JPC, as per reports, is unwilling to visit Assam again. Speculations are rife that the Centre will pass the bill in the Winter Session of Parliament.

It may be mentioned that around 60 groups and organisations in Assam stand opposed to the bill. They fear that if the bill is passed, it will threaten the existence of indigenous communities.

The bill, which was introduced in the Parliament in 2016, seeks to grant citizenship to the non-Muslim immigrants of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who migrated to India till December 31, 2014