Cabinet clears citizen bill; claim of NE salve

ANITA JOSHUA, TT, 05 Dec 2019, New Delhi: The Union cabinet has cleared the religion specific Citizenship (Amendment) Bill for reintroduction in Parliament, pressing ahead with one of the most contentious pieces of legislation in Independent India amid opposition in the Northeast and deep misgivings in Bengal.

The bill seeks to exclude Muslims while offering citizenship to persecuted communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Sources said a clause "exempting" the Northeast had been included to address the concerns in the region. PTI quoted officials as saying the Inner Line Permit regime areas and regions governed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution are learnt to have been excluded from the bill's purview.

Residents of other states require Inner Line Permits to visit Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. The Sixth Schedule, which pledges autonomy to protect the indigenous population, applies to the hill districts of Assam and the entire Meghalaya and Tripura.

Till late on Wednesday night, copies of the bill had not been circulated among members of either House as is mandated by the rules, which specify at least a 24-hour notice. The Modi government has mostly ignored this provision ever since it assumed office in 2014.

In the absence of clarity, protests were staged in Assam, especially because the cabinet clearance came less than 24 hours after the powerful All Assam Students' Union and others had rejected the bill during discussions with Shah in Delhi on Tuesday evening.

There was no official word from the government on when the bill would be brought to Parliament.