Rajnath Singh in bid to allay Assam fears on citizenship bill

Guwahati: Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Wednesday that Union home minister Rajnath Singh had assured him that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, proposing to grant citizenship to minorities from neighbouring countries, would be finalised and placed before Parliament only after due consultation with all stakeholders and addressing concerns raised by the people of Assam on its provisions.

Saying that the Union home minister had assured him about this at a meeting to review the administrative and security plans for the updating of the National Register of Citizens in New Delhi, Mr Sonowal said: “The home minister said that there should be no apprehension in the minds of the people of Assam about the Citizenship Bill. The home minister assured us that before taking any step, the people of Assam will be taken into confidence. All stakeholders will be consulted.”

The proposed Citizenship Bill has triggered massive protests in Assam with people accusing it of being discriminatory on the grounds of religion. The BJP’s ally, the Asom Gana Parishad, has also been agitating, and saying that it violated the Assam Accord as it sought to confer citizenship on illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

The Union home ministry, meanwhile, in a statement said the meeting on Wednesday — attended by senior officers of the MHA and the Assam government — had agreed that adequate opportunities must be given to the people to file claims and objections to the final NRC draft and also their proper disposal as per the law. A campaign should also be launched to inform and educate people on the process of filing claims and objections, it was emphasised.

Mr Sonowal requested the home minister to set up a committee to make recommendations to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which provides for constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people. Mr Singh assured the chief minister that the committee would be set up at the earliest in consultation with the state government.