SHILLONG: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has defended the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, saying there is nothing in it that will harm the nation.
Reacting to a query about large-scale opposition to the bill in the North East including Meghalaya, Deb, who was in Shillong on Monday, said, “This is a matter pertaining to the central government and it is their call. When the central government will tell me to speak on this bill, I will speak.”
He, however, said the Centre will take NGOs and civil societies from the region on board before taking a final call on the matter.
Deb said the Citizenship Amendment Bill and NRC are yet to reach its logical end and people should wait till the act finally materialises.
“If it is good for the country, we will do it and if not we will not,” he said.
On the large number of Bangladeshis in Tripura, the state’s chief minister said anybody can say anything and all the chief ministers of northeastern states are working for the betterment of the region.
Different NGOs in the region, including many in Meghalaya, are up in arms against the bill.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill was proposed in the Lok Sabha on July 19, amending the Citizenship Act of 1955.
If this Bill is passed in Parliament, illegal migrants from certain minority communities coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan will be eligible for Indian citizenship.
In other words, illegal migrants belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian religious communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan would not be imprisoned or deported.
When asked about the opposition Congress’s Rafale scam allegations, Deb said there was an “international conspiracy” behind AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s claims.
“I feel there is an international saazish (conspiracy) as Rahul Gandhi is trying to defame the country,” he added.
When asked to elaborate on the allegations, he said there were conspiracies in the past which were aimed to destroy its integrity and political system.
Deb also saw “international conspiracy” in the numerous lynching cases across the country.
“Mob lynching does not take place in India and the issue of mob lynching too is an international conspiracy. We are a country of
atithi devo bhava and even if we resort to war, we tell our opponents that we will resort to war against you,” he said while adding that mob lynching is a thought of the Maoists.
Continuing his tirade against Gandhi, Deb said the Congress chief “defamed the country in front of the world while the Supreme Court has given a clean chit to the government” on Rafale deal and demanded apology for misleading the country.
“The Congress does not want to debate the matter in Parliament and it is not willing to accept even the Supreme Court’s order,” he added.
Last week, the apex court had rejected any corruption in the Rs 59,000-crore Rafale jet deal and dismissed all petitions asking for an investigation.
