Even as the unease over the on-going exercise in Assam to update the National Register of Citizens was voiced vehemently by Bengal Chief Minister, who termed it a means to drive Bengalis out of the State , the Citizenship Bill, 2016, which seeks to amend the existing Citizenship Act 1955 has been in limbo since 2016.
The amended Bill that seeks to confer citizenship to illegal migrants from religious minorities, barring Muslims, from neighbouring countries, was referred to a joint select committee in August 2016.
This needs to be seen in the context of the recent debate on National Register of Citizens in Assam with the Trinamool Congress labelling it an exercise to drive Bengalis from Assam. According to sources, the BJP’s Assam leadership is uncomfortable with the proposed Bill that is antagonistic to the ongoing NRC exercise.
In the last 17 months, the joint select committee has held eight sittings but is far from finalising its report. The last meeting of the committee was held last Wednesday after a gap of over six-months. “It [the meeting] was merely to welcome the new chairperson of the committee, Mr. Rajendra Agarwal who replaced Satyapal Singh. Mr Singh was elevated as a Minister in September. Regardless of the change, the government has lost interest in the Bill,” said an MP who attended the meeting.
The bill was sent to select a committee after vehement protests from members in the Opposition, who alleged the Narendra Modi government is trying to convert India into a Hindu nation. The Bill amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, eligible for citizenship.
The Opposition also said the Bill violated Article 14 of the Constitution which guarantees right to equality.
According to sources, the BJP’s Assam leadership is uncomfortable with the proposed Bill that is antagonistic to the ongoing NRC exercise.
