With the support of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the plans of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah could be a shock to gain a major boost in the northeast states. In connection with the pending Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 in the Rajya Sabha, BJP’s ally JDU, the allies of NEDA, are going to meet in Guwahati on Tuesday, in which these parties can take a big decision to continue the alliance with the BJP.
In terms of seats, Assam’s largest ally, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), has already withdrawn its support. The meeting, which is being held on Tuesday, is headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People’s Party (NPP) President, Conrad Sangma. In which the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram, National Democratic Progressive Party of Nagaland (NDPP), Indigenous People’s Fund of Tripura (IPFT), Sikkim’s Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), besides Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur NPP leaders will be involved.
BJP had promised to give citizenship to Hindu refugees who came to India after coming to India as a victim of harassment from neighboring countries while playing Hindu card in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP had also included this promise in its manifesto. Its BJP has been continuously talking about the Muslim intruders from Bangladesh who came from Bangladesh as a threat to the security of the country. BJP has a special focus on 25 seats in the North-Eastern states in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. At present, out of 25 seats, BJP has 8 seats, Congress has 8 seats and the remaining seats are with other regional parties. Tell that most of these regional parties are running the government in their respective states in association with BJP.
What is the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016?
In fact, through the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016, the government wants to create a new definition of illegal intruders. Through it, the amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955 provides for the grant of Indian citizenship to the illegal intruders of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Although this bill does not provide for the provision of citizenship to Muslim minorities (Shia and Ahmedia) who are victims of persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. Apart from this, there is also provided for reducing the condition of staying in India continuously for 11 years in this bill, for 6 years.
Why is it being opposed?
These regional parties in the North-East are protesting against the Citizenship Bill. Because they believe this bill is tainted with their cultural, social and linguistic identity. Apart from this, the second major concern for this bill is that it will also invalidate the updates of the people living in India illegally, who have been referred to under the National Citizen Register (NRC) due to its implementation. Let us know that in the previous year, the draft list of NRC has been released in Assam. The dispute about which is not yet there. Other states in the North-East are also demanding NRC on the lines of Assam. The third big issue is that this bill talks about giving citizenship on the basis of religion. While the NRC did not identify people living illegally on the basis of religion.