Amit Shah to meet NE stakeholders to discuss Citizenship Bill

The Union Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah will meet the political parties and civil society organisations from Tripura, Mizoram, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Nagaland to discuss the Citizenship (Amendment), Bill.The meetings are scheduled on November 29, 30 and December 3. On Friday morning, parliamentarians from the Congress and Naga People's Front protested against the Citizenship Amendment Bill.  

Protests by parliamentarians 

Condemning the Citizenship Amendment Bill, parliamentarians from the Congres and Naga People's Front  protested in front of the Mahatama Gandhi statue in the parliament premises. They also raised slogans against the bill and demanded that it should be scrapped. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) , 2016, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8 this year, aims at granting citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh,Pakistan,and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.  

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah made statements on the necessity of the bill in the Rajya Sabha. He said that the Citizenship Amendment Bill is needed so that Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Christian and Parsi refugees, who are being discriminated on basis of religion in Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan obtain Indian citizenship. The minister received a lot of flak from the opposition for not including the ‘Muslim’ religion in his statement from the opposition. 

Read: Assam: Cong Stages Walkout From Assembly Over NRC, Citizenship Amendment Bill

Congress parliamentarians stage a walkout 

The Congress party on Thursday staged a walkout from the Assam Assembly demanding suspension of the question hour so that they can hold a discussion on the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). The main opposition party in the house not only walked out but also staged a sit-in demonstration in the lobby. Few of the MLAs also slept on the floor during the protests.  

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The Speaker of the Assam Assembly, Hitendra Nath Goswami declined Congress party's request for holding a discussion on the given issues. He stated that no prior notice was given to the Assembly for any discussions involving NRC and CAB. After this incident, the Congress MLAs started shouting in the house and staged a walkout. 

(With ANI Inputs)

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