SHILLONG: The Opposition Congress on Tuesday said the party was on the same page with Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) while asking the Centre to take all stakeholders from the North East on board.
Opposition Chief whip PT Sawkmie said that the Centre must discuss CAB with the chief ministers of all Northeastern states before bringing it in Parliament.
Pointing out that the states have divided opinion on CAB, Sawkmie said,“ Assam has already suggested to bring CAB as those who have not been included in the NRC will be included in it, but some states like ours oppose it”.
“That is why we are together with our chief minister
that some provisions should be there to exclude some states of the North East especially those opposed to CAB,” he said.
Asked if they saw the assurance of the Home Minister, Amit Shah, during the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) meet in Guwahati as a positive development for the North East, Sawmkmie said rather it was negative in the sense that most of the states of the region are against CAB, but now the Home Minister himself has said that CAB is very important.
“He said that bringing CAB will protect the indigenous people, instead it will badly affect the indigenous tribes ,” Sawkmie said.
