The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the Bill seeking to amend the Citizenship Act is set to table its report in the Winter Session of Parliament in December.
“The Winter Session is practically the last session of the House (16th Lok Sabha). If we do not submit our report, it means we have not done our work properly. Besides the committee will also lapse,” said JPC chairman and BJP MP from Meerut, Rajendra Agrawal, indicating the tabling of the bill in the forthcoming Session.
The bill is receiving vehement opposition in Assam and other northeastern states. In Assam, 46 organisations called a 12-hour bandh on Tuesday to protest against the Centre’s bid to pass the proposed legislation in the forthcoming session of Parliament.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955. The main purpose of the amendment bill seeks to grant citizenship to people from minority communities — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12 even if they don’t possess any proper document.
Many organisations in the Northeast have opposed the bill saying 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 Meghalaya and Mizoram Governments have strongly opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill and adopted resolutions against it.
“We understand there are concerns among some people. Many of the organisations have met us. We are open for further discussions in the coming days,” Agrawal said, when asked whether the committee members will again visit Assam, where the bill is receiving maximum opposition. The JPC has already taken six extensions from the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. It has sought time for the presentation of the report on the “first day of the last week of the Winter Session, 2018”.
During the course of its examination and study visits, the committee met a cross section of people in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Assam and Meghalaya and heard views of organisations, individuals, experts and others. Political parties, including the Congress and the AIUDF, have extended their support to Tuesday’s bandh in the “interest of Assam and its indigenous people”.