SHILLONG: The state government has asked political parties to give their views on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in writing and also wants to bring on board various groups by holding consultations with them.
Talking to media persons after an all-party meeting to discuss about the contentious CAB and amendments to Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act and the Sixth Schedule here on Wednesday, Sangma said the Union Home Minister had asked him to convene a meeting of all political parties to elicit their views, concerns and issues vis-à-vis the contentious bill.
The meeting was attended by seven political parties and the opinions expressed by them would be forwarded to the Union government.
During the meeting, some gave their opinion about the cut-off year for the CAB, about the local laws and the fate of the Sixth Schedule and Residents Act.
The chief minister said that Delhi is aware that the state government and political parties here are opposing CAB and is, therefore, reaching out and asking for their views, which was missing last time when the Centre just introduced the Bill in the parliament.
“The situation is being handled in a different way this time and the Union government and we are hopeful that representatives from the Home Ministry would come here and seek our opinion and views of the NGOs,” Sangma said.
The CAB seeks to amend a 1955 law to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians from the Muslim-majority nations of Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan if they have lived in India for six years.
It was passed by the previous Lok Sabha but was not tabled in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill lapsed after the term of the Lok Sabha ended in May and is yet to be brought back although the NDA government is committed to it.
