SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) on Friday demanded that the entire state be exempted from the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill amidst reports that areas governed by Sixth Schedule and Inner Line Permit will be kept out of its purview.
It also expressed unhappiness over the Union cabinet approving the contentious bill.
The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO) has also opposed the bill saying the entire state is not exempted and demanded that it be not passed.
The bill is likely to be tabled in Parliament on December 9.
Talking to media persons after a meeting of the Coordination Committee of the alliance here, Deputy Chief Minister and senior NPP leader, Prestone Tynsong, said the MDA is not happy with the Union cabinet giving its nod to the bill.
He further said that the MDA government from the very beginning has made it very clear that it does not want CAB in Meghalaya.
“We had even submitted a resolution of all political parties, traditional heads, stakeholders, NGOs and civil society to the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, on November 30 maintaining that Meghalaya should be exempted from the CAB”, Tynsong said.
He said that the state government would again write to the Centre.
The deputy chief minister said that they would also request Shillong Congress MP Vincent H Pala and NPP MP from Tura Agatha K Sangma to support the state government.
“We are not aware of the stand of the governments of other states. But the MDA will push the Centre to leave the state out of the CAB”, Tynsong said.
He said that the Union government has inserted only one line in the bill that CAB will not be applicable in the scheduled areas of the state.
Tynsong, however, observed that if the Centre is ready to exempt the scheduled areas which comprise 97 per cent of the state, it should exempt entire Meghalaya from the bill.
“I do not see any problem doing that”, he said.
Besides Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh, leaders of various political parties who are part of the MDA attended the meeting of the coordination committee.
In a press communiqué issued here, chairman of CoMSO Robert June Kharjahrin demanded exemption for the entire state.
“Meghalaya is a state without ILP, the governor has not given his assent to the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA) amendment ordinance, so Meghalaya will be a safe haven for Bangladeshi nationals who become Indian citizens courtesy CAB”, he said.
Kharjahrin also said that the clause bringing down the number of years from 11 to 5 in order to enable the Bangladeshi Hindus and others to get citizenship still remains.
