Centre to bring CAB with amendments

The central government will bring Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), 2019 with some amendments into it. The bill will be introduced in the ongoing session of the Parliament.

New Delhi:The Narendra Modi Government has agreed on principle to bring Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), 2019 with some amendments into it while allying concern of sections of organisations and political parties opposing the bill.

The development took place after Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired back to back meetings with representatives from different organisations and political parties coming from Northeast.

Talking to ETV Bharat, senior BJP leader and Assam Minister Hemanta Biswa Sharma said that the bill will be introduced in the ongoing session of the Parliament. "There will be some amendments in the bill. It was told by Home Minister Amit Shah that the bill will not have its implications in sixth schedule areas of the region. The bill will not have its implications in those states where the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system exists," said Sharma.

In four states of the northeast including Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram there are sixth schedule areas. The sixth schedule of the Constitution deals with the administration of the tribal areas in these four states as per Article 244. The sixth schedule includes 10 autonomous district councils in these four states.

There are three autonomous district councils in Assam. In Meghalaya, there are three autonomous district council. In Tripura, there is one autonomous district council and in Mizoram there three autonomous district council. On the other hand, the inner line permit (ILP) is required to visit in some northeastern states including Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, certain places in Sikkim.

This ILP is an official recognition to allow inward travel of any individual into a protected area for a limited period."If CAB is not implied in sixth schedule areas and in states having ILP, a fee states and areas are left where CAB will be implied," said Sharma.

He said that the meeting chaired by Home Minister was able to ally fear of several organisations. Significantly, the amended CAB will set a dateline for granting citizenship. "December 31, 2014, is going to be the dateline to grant citizenship to any individual after they make claim," said Sharma.

"The government will introduce and get passage of the bill in the ongoing session of the Parliament," the Assam Minister who is also North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor said after the meeting. It was from Friday late evening that Home Minister Shah had started back to back meetings with different stakeholders from the northeast over CAB.

Sources said that government will introduce the bill next week in the Parliament after it is being cleared by the Union Cabinet. The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 and grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afganistan who have illegally migrated into India. Earlier, the bill was passed by the 16th Lok Sabha but due to shortage of members in the Rajya Sabha, BJP was not able to get it cleared from the Upper House.