Centre Must Care for Sentiments of Northeast: Meghalaya CM on Citizenship Amendment Bill

Guwahati (Assam) [India], Jan 30 (ANI): Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma appealed to the central government to look into the issue of Citizenship Amendment Bill keeping in mind the sentiments of the people of northeast India.He also said that parties have come together purely on the basis of issues and for the central government to realise these.   “We are here to come together to appeal to the government that this issue must be looked at from point of view of sentiments of northeast and country as a whole. We will see future course of action as the time comes,” said Sangma.Under the leadership of Sangma, who is also the president of the National People’s Party (NPP), the meeting was attended by 11 regional political parties from the North East including NEDA allies AGP, NPP, NDPP, UDP, JD(U), IPFT opposed the Bill today.The NPP, which convened the meeting, is BJP’s partner in the ruling alliance in Meghalaya.While Sangma was the convener of the meeting, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) was the co-convener of the meeting. AGP had snapped ties with the BJP in Assam earlier this month over the Bill.On January 23, as many as 70 organisations, including Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), protested against the Bill in Guwahati.The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8. It will facilitate citizenship of six identified minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who came to India before 31 December 2014.The proposed amendment in the Bill will make these persecuted migrants eligible to apply for citizenship. Under the proposed amendment, the minimum residency period for citizenship is being reduced from the existing 12 years under the present law to seven years. However, citizenship will be given to them only after due scrutiny and recommendation of district authorities and the state government. (ANI)

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