Shah to discuss Citizenship Bill with Northeast CMs

Home Minister Amit Shah will meet chief ministers of the Northeastern states before the next session of the Parliament to work out "changes" in the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in view of the concerns raised by them over its possible fallout.

The bill, which Narendra Modi government is likely to table in the Parliament again seeks to allow "persecuted" minorities in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan such as Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Sikhs, who migrated to India till December 31, 2014 to apply for citizenship, after a stay of six years.

Indigenous communities in the Northeast, however, are against the bill fearing that it would make a large number of "illegal migrants" Indian citizens and would reduce them into minorities.

Assam minister and senior BJP leader, Himanta Biswa Sarma told a news channel here that Shah will discuss and assure the chief ministers that the bill will not prevail over the laws and provisions such as Inner Line Permit (ILP) and Article 371 and others, which are already in force to protect identity and culture of the ethnic tribes in the Northeast.

"The meeting will discuss all these issues and try to work out the changes in the bill if required in order to ensure that interests of the indigenous communities are not affected and concerns expressed by various quarters are addressed," he said.

The decision about Shah's meeting comes days after chief ministers of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland said people of the region are under fear about adverse fallout of the bill. They sought exemption of the Northeast from the bill's purview.

Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram have ILP system, under which any "outsider" visiting the states are issued permit while the Northeast states enjoy special provisions under Article 371.

A group of students in Meghalaya on Tuesday staged a protest demanding the introduction of ILP in the state to check "infiltration" after the publication of the NRC in Assam and the bill. They had intensified "vigil" against "infiltration" by those left out of the NRC. Over 19.06 lakh applicants have been left out the updated NRC, released on August 31.