SHILLONG: The People’s Democratic Front (PDF) would meet on Friday to discuss its course of action following Union Cabinet’s approval of Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and its imminent introduction in the Parliament next week.
Urban Affairs Minister and PDF MLA, Hamlet Dohling said that the party right from day one had made it very clear to the Central leadership that they were totally against this Bill but the Centre despite the stiff opposition from the North Eastern states have decided to go ahead with the Bill.
“Our stand is clear and we will not compromise on the identity and security of our people. We are going to oppose CAB,” Dohling said even as he added that apart from the party, the State Government would also hold discussions shortly on the development.
“The idea of exempting schedule areas will not work with us and we want that entire Meghalaya should be exempted from the purview of this Bill,” Dohling said
He also said that the party still have hopes that the Central Government would feel for the North East and would consider the requests of the North Eastern states.
“It is a fight not only from the Government but everyone including NGOs and people of the state are on the same page,” Dohling said while adding that the Union Government must respect the sentiments of the North Eastern people and their opposition to the CAB.
Following the passing of the CAB by the Union Cabinet, NESO and KSU have started conducting street meetings in different parts of the state to sensitize the people about the ill-effects of the CAB.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 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.
