Leaders, political parties, organisations from NE to assemble to discuss nexus of Citizenship Bill

New Delhi, November 29: Discussing the details on Citizenship Bill, the Home Ministry has invited leaders of socio-cultural bodies, students' organisations and political parties from the northeast states for discussions over the next two days on the plans to amend the Citizenship Act. The Citizenship Amendment Bill intends to grant Indian nationality to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

 

The home ministry has convened the meetings in the wake of strong protests registered by many organisations against the bill in the northeast. Those who have been invited for discussions on Friday and Saturday include North East Students' Organisation, All Bodo Students' Union and student’s bodies from Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Leaders of several political parties both regional and state chiefs of national political parties and heads of socio-cultural organisations have also been invited for the discussions.

The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, in order to grant Indian nationality to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who come to India after facing religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan even if they don't possess proper documents. A large section of people and organisations in the northeast have opposed the bill, saying it will nullify the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985, which fixed March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for deportation of all illegal immigrants irrespective of religion.

The BJP-led NDA government had introduced the bill in its previous tenure and got the Lok Sabha's approval. But the government did not introduce it in the Rajya Sabha, apparently due to vehement protests in the northeast. The bill lapsed following the dissolution of the last Lok Sabha.