Northeast India will turn into a dumping ground if the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 is cleared by Parliament, former Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh said here on Wednesday.
He, along with a delegation of senior Congress leaders, submitted a memorandum of appeal against the Bill to President Ram Nath Kovind. The delegation had sought an appointment and had been waiting for the last three days to meet him. Mr. Singh said that since it was a burning issue and Manipur could no longer wait for the President to relent, the delegation decided to submit a memorandum instead to highlight their plight.
“We are a small State and only less than 10% of the geographical area is open to non-residents of Manipur. This valley, which is already overcrowded, will become a dumping ground for all Hindus coming from these countries,” he said.
He demanded that the Bill be withdrawn immediately. With the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the government planned to change the definition of illegal migrants.
The Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 15, 2016, seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to provide citizenship to illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who are of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian extraction. However, the Act does not have a provision for Muslim sects such as Shias and Ahmediyas who also face persecution in Pakistan.
“We cannot accept it, we will fight it tooth and nail. This Bill can’t be passed by Parliament,” Mr. Singh said.
Assam too has red-flagged the legislation.
The Congress delegation raised concerns about the Naga Peace Accord which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had signed with Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak Muviah) in August 2015. “Till today, no one knows the content of this framework. Why is the Government of India keeping it confidential? This is a big problem for Manipur,” he said. Manipur has a strong Naga population. Government’s interlocutor R.N. Ravi recently said the framework may be presented to Parliament as a Bill to set up an autonomous council.