Assam needn’t worry about bill, says BJP Total protection will be given to indigenous sons of the soil in the days to come: Sarbananda Sonowal

TT, 3.12.19, Guwahati: Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and state BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass on Monday came out in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, amid statewide protests against it.

“The indigenous sons of the soil need not worry. The government is responsible for their safety. We have taken steps to protect their land, culture, literature, existence and pride. We have taken several steps, including preparing land policy. Complete protection will be given to the indigenous people of the state in the days to come,” Sonowal said on being asked his stand on the bill.

The chief minister is known for his silence on the issue while his cabinet colleague Himanta Biswa Sarma and many other BJP leaders have been vocal in support of the bill.

Dass, on the other hand, thanked Union home minister Amit Shah for the bill. He added that the bill is an ideological commitment of the BJP.

“The state BJP heartily thanks Shah for his effort to bring the bill (in Parliament) next week,” he said.

The comments of Sonowal and Dass come at a time various organisations in the state are up in arms against the bill that seeks to give Indian citizenship to “persecuted” non-Muslim communities from four neighbouring Islamic countries.

Dass criticised the Congress for “not participating in discussion with Shah”. The Union home minister has been holding rounds of meetings with political and apolitical organisations from the Northeast on the bill for the past few days. “The Congress does not have the capability to meet Shah on the issue. The party is in a dilemma. The Congress has one stand on the bill in Barak Valley and another in Brahmaputra Valley,” he said, adding the other political parties with a clear stand on the bill have discussed the issue with Shah.

Claiming that the central government is concerned about the state, Dass said had it not been the BJP at the Centre, the Clause 6 of Assam Accord would have remained in paper. The Centre has formed a committee to suggest how to implement the clause, he added.

On protests by students of Cotton University against the bill, Dass said: “Ninety per cent students of the university are not involved in the agitation. I went to the university and talked to the students. They said the bill is needed.”

KalimNews: The CAB is as follows- (Note: the main point of amendment is in the last line of section 4- ie eleven years is substituted by six years )

THE CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2019 

 A 

BILL 

further to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955.

 BE it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—

 1. (1) This Act may be called the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

2. In the Citizenship Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in section 2, in sub-section (1), after clause (b), the following provisos shall be inserted, namely:—

“Provided that persons belonging to minority communities, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who have been exempted by the Central Government by or under clause (c)of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any order made thereunder, shall not be treated as illegal migrants for the purposes of that Act:

Provided further that on and from the date of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, any proceeding pending against any person referred to in the first proviso shall be abated and such person shall be eligible to apply for naturalisation under section 6.”..

3. In the principal Act, in section 7D, -

(i) after clause (d), the following clause shall be inserted namely:— 

 “(da) the Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder has violated any of the provisions of this Act or provisions of any other law for the time being in force as may be specified by the Central Government by notification published in the Official Gazette; or”; 

(ii) after clause (f), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:— 

“Provided that no order under this section shall be passed unless the Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.” 

4. In the principal Act, in the Third Schedule, in clause (d), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—  

“Provided that for the persons belonging to minority communities, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, the aggregate period of residence or service of a Government in India as required under this clause shall be read as “not less than six years” in place of “not less than eleven years”.’.