Centre to consider concerns of Assam people before Citizenship Bill: Sonowal

The Centre has assured the people of Assam that their concerns will be taken into consideration before taking any decision on amendment to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, state's Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Wednesday.

Sonowal told the media that he got this assurance from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during a long meeting on Wednesday, a day after thousands of people participated in a mass hunger strike in Assam to protest against the bill.

"There should be no apprehension in the mind of the people of Assam about the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. The Centre has given an assurance that concerns of the people of Assam will be allayed before taking any step. All stakeholders will be consulted," Sonowal said.

The All Assam Students Union, supported by at least 28 other organisations including the Asom Gana Parishad, a partner of the BJP-led government in Assam, and the Congress on Tuesday staged protest in Guwahati warning a massive agitation in case the Centre and state went ahead with the passage and implementation of the bill.

Protests have become the order of the day in Assam since a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, visited the state this month.

The bill aims to grant citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who have fled from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan following persecution. However, in Assam, several indigenous groups view it as a move to legitimise Hindu migration from Bangladesh after 1971.

United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) has also threatened to derail the peace accord with the Central government over the issue related to the bill by conveying its strong opposition to government interlocutor A.B. Mathur during a meeting in New Delhi last week. Ulfa suspects the bill would reduce the indigenous people in Assam to a minority.

Sonowal also said all efforts would be made to address the concerns of people of Assam in this regard.

He also requested Rajnath Singh to set up a committee to make recommendations for implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord which provides for constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of Assamese people.

"The Home Minister assured Assam Chief Minister that a committee will be set up at the earliest in consultation with the state government," a Home Ministry statement said.

The meeting discussed various administrative and security arrangements related to the updation exercise of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) as per the orders of the Supreme Court. A massive exercise to update the NRC was being carried out in Assam following a directive of the Supreme Court in 2005.

Issues related to arrangements required to dispose of claims and objections after publication of the next draft NRC on June 30 was also discussed in the meeting, the statement said.

It was emphasised that adequate opportunity be given to people in this regard and necessary arrangements made to avoid any inconvenience to public. It should be ensured that claims and objections are disposed of as per law, and in a proper manner, it said.

According to the statement, the meeting also emphasised that a strong information, education and communication campaign be launched to inform people about the process of filing claims and objections after publication of final draft NRC.

--IANS

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