“Border rows to be settled in time-bound manner”
GUWAHATI: Union home minister and BJP national president, Amit Shah had a discussion on the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) with all the eight chief minister of the Northeast on the sidelines of the 4th Conclave of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) here on Monday.
Informing this to the media at the state BJP headquarters here later, NEDA convener and Assam minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said the home minister assured that the proposed CAB will have a cut-off date of December 31, 2014 and that it would not in any way override the provisions of the Sixth Schedule, Inner Line Permit and state acts like the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act.
“Specific provisions would be included in the proposed Amendment Bill itself. All the current laws and regulations and state laws enacted for protecting the cultural, linguistic and other rights of North Eastern Region will not get diluted by proposed CAB,” Shah said at the meeting with the Northeast chief ministers.
Giving details regarding the meeting, the NEDA convener said, “Chief minister of Meghalaya had enquired whether there would be any cut-off date for granting citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan besides asking whether the proposed CAB would override the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act.”
“The chief ministers of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland had enquired whether the proposed CAB will in any way affect the provisions of Article 371, Sixth Schedule and ILP,” Sarma informed.
“All chief ministers of the region thanked the home minister for his categorical assurance and assured him that they would discuss the proposed CAB with all stakeholders in their respective states and meet him (Shah) again,” Sarma said.
Earlier while speaking at the conclave, Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga too had stressed on a “formula” while looking at the regions’s vulnerability in regard to the proposed CAB.
Boundary issues
The NEDA convener also informed that the home minister had assured that inter-state border issues would be resolved in a time-bound manner. “The home minister has assured that all border rows and land disputes between the states of the Northeast would be resolved before India celebrates its 75th Independence Day. The Union government will take a proactive state in this regard,” Sarma said.
He further said that the Union government was preparing a blueprint to tackle the menace of drug trafficking. “The central government will come down heavily against drug trafficking and the home minister discussed about preparing a blueprint to curb the menace,” Sarma, who earlier described the NEDA conclave as a historic event with all eight chief ministers belonging to non-Congress parties, said.