House committee on citizenship amendment bill finalises report

NEW DELHI: The joint parliamentary committee on the citizenship amendment bill finalised its report on Thursday, expectedly retaining provisions seeking to provide a path to citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians fleeing persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The opposition demand that the provisions be made “religion neutral”, so as to potentially allow Muslims from these countries to avail of citizenship was turned down by the committee which has a majority of NDA members.

The government has argued that there is a distinction between minorities fleeing discrimination, which constitutes a forced migration, and economic migrants who are illegals.

The committee saw Congress leaders seek a reconsideration, pointing out that the Centre has just set up a committee on the implementation of clauses of the Assam accord that deal with the rights of ethnic Assamese.

The bill’s provisions applicable to Bangladesh were seen to be in contradiction with the Assam accord which seeks the repatriation of all persons who reached the state after March, 1971. The citizenship amendment bill would seek a different treatment for Hindus from Bangladesh.

The opposition members of the JPC from Congress, CPM and BJD and other parties are expected to submit dissent notes by early next week before the report is tabled in Parliament.