SHILLONG: Deputy Chief Whip and BJP MLA Sanbor Shullai on Tuesday shot off a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind asking him to exempt Meghalaya from the purview of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill under the provisions of Article 244 of the Constitution.
In a memorandum submitted to Kovind through Governor Tathagata Roy, Shullai said that under the special provisions of the Para 12 A(b) of the Sixth Schedule, the President may with respect to any act of the Parliament by notification direct that it shall not apply to an autonomous district or an autonomous region in Meghalaya.
He also said the state can be kept out of the purview of the bill since schedule areas can be exempted on the basis of reservation of such states under the provisions of 95th Amendment of the 2009 Act which “provides Meghalaya under the reservation of schedule tribe as both the seats are reserved for schedule tribes and the influx of immigrants may change the very purpose of schedule areas which is done to preserve the identity of minority tribes in India”.
Shullai had earlier said that the issues concerning the CAB and its implementation in the Northeastern states need to be examined thoroughly.
He stated that the issue concerning illegal migrants in the Northeastern states cannot be identified on the basis of religion as there is large scale influx in search of jobs from Bangladesh rather than religious persecution which is the prime motive for grant of citizenship as stated in the bill.
Stating that the central government can consult different stakeholders on the bill, he added that the Inner Line Permit can also be introduced in the entire North East for once and for all to solve the problem of influx.
Shullai’s memorandum to the president comes a day after the North East witnessed protests against the CAB.
When contacted, BJP vice president JA Lyngdoh said there is no change in the state BJP’s stand on CAB.
“We reiterate that Meghalaya should be exempted from the purview of CAB in the interest of the indigenous tribes of the state”, he said.
In the last meeting of state BJP leaders with the Centre, the state president Shibun Lyngdoh and MLAs AL Hek and Sanbor Shullai had raised the matter.
“Since we do not have ILP in Meghalaya like some of the Northeastern states, we have requested the Central government through Amit Shahji to exempt the implementation of CAB through Article 244 Para 12 A(b) of the Constitution which stated that the President of India, may with respect to any Act of Parliament, by notification direct that it shall not apply to an Autonomous District or Autonomous Region in the State of Meghalaya, or shall apply to such District or region or any part thereof subject to such exceptions or modifications as he may specify in the notification and any such direction may be given so as to have retrospective effect”, Lyngdoh said.
