“Centre must consult NE stakeholders before reintroducing Bill in Parliament”
GUWAHATI: Manipur People’s Alliance against Citizenship Amendment Bill (MANPAC), a conglomeration of 72 civil society organisations, has warned of a massive civil movement if the Centre decided to reintroduce the Citizenship Amendment Bill during the current session of Parliament without holding consultations with all stakeholders in the Northeast.
Speaking to The Shillong Times from Imphal on Tuesday, MANPAC convener, Y. Dilipkumar said that as of now, it would stick to a wait-and-watch policy and observe what the BJP-led government at the Centre does with the contentious legislation.
“We do not have confidence in the assurance given by our chief minister that there would be certain provisions in the legislation which would safeguard the rights of the indigenous people. CAB 2016 is not specific to the Northeast but encompasses the entire country. As such we demand that the legislation be totally withdrawn,” Dilipkumar asserted.
The BJP manifesto for the 17th Lok Sabha election assured that linguistic, cultural and social identity of the people of the Northeast would be protected from CAB. The saffron party had however promised to reintroduce CAB 2016 if it came to power for a second time.
The MANPAC convener warned of a massive civil protest if the Centre bypasses the aspirations of the people of the Northeast and reintroduces the legislation in Parliament without consulting and taking the opinion of the people of Manipur and the other states of the region.
“We are now gearing up for an extensive awareness campaign against CAB in the next two to three days. The common people, including students and vendors among others would be sensitised against the legislation across Manipur,” he said.
It may be noted that MANPAC has been raising its voice against the contentious legislation since the anti-CAB movement across Northeast last year.
A constituent body of North East Forum for Indigenous People, MANPAC endorses the resolution of the forum’s April 30 meeting in Shillong to collectively fight to determine its future if the Bill is legislated in Parliament.
