IT News
Imphal, Dec 4
A day after the representatives of MANPAC and political parties from the state held consultative meeting with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah in connection with the contentious CAB, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019.
A leader of Shiva Sena Manipur state – political parties after meeting the Union Home Minister at New Delhi yesterday expressed confidence on the assurance by Union Home Minister for protection of Manipur. However, except for the region which has Inner Line Permit system as well as those protected under sixth schedule, no additional clause has been added to the revised Bill, a source said to Imphal Times.
The Bill seeks to grant citizenship to six undocumented non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.
Quoting a senior government official, National daily The Hindu reported that the Bill was one of the items on the Cabinet’s agenda for Wednesday and it was given the go-ahead.
The proposed amendment also has provisions to shield certain areas in the northeast from the impact of the Bill.
Last week, representatives of several northeast groups said they had been assured by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura protected by Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and States of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland that are protected by the Inner Line Permit (ILP) will be exempted from the impact of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019.
The civil society groups and political representatives met Mr. Shah in Delhi as part of a consultative process to discuss the Bill that is expected to be introduced in the Parliament session on December 9. The session ends on December 13.
Northeast States have erupted in protests against the Bill. A large section of the people and organisations in the northeast say 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 groups were told on Saturday that the Bill will have a provision to detect and deport all the illegal migrants who entered after December 31, 2014.
