Citizenship Bill
Guwahati: The BJP-led coalition government in Assam has initiated a process of public consultation to resolve the crisis arising in the state because of Government of India’s proposed Citizenship (amendment) Act, 2016 that aims to grant citizenship to persecuted minority refugees from neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A meeting was held here on Sunday night with a select group of citizens from various walks life with the BJP national general secretary Ram Madhab, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and the state’s senior cabinet minister Dr Himanta Bishwa Sarma to gather feedback from the ground realities vis-à-vis the opposition and apprehensions aired by various quarters over `government of India’s attempt which is feared to facilitate citizenship status to lakhs of Hindu Bengali refugees living in the state illegally.
The meeting also explored ways to implement the Clause 6 (A) of Assam Accord that vouches for constitutional safeguard ( in respect, cultural, linguistic, social and administrative rights) to indigenous people of the state so that the rights of the indigenous population remain protected in view of the changing demographic pattern in the state that is dogged by unabated illegal migration across the border.
The meeting took into account the opposition against to Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 on the ground that it would render Assam Accord useless as all the illegal migrants coming to the state after March 25, 1971 have to be detected and deported irrespective of their caste, creed and religion as per the Accord that was signed between the Government of India and leaders of Assam Agitation in the year 1985.
The meeting resolved that the ambit of the public consultation should be widened to gather more opinion about possibility of securing special Constitutional shield like the Article 371 that is in vogue in states of Nagaland and J-K so that political and economic rights of indigenous communities could be protected under any circumstances.