AGP Delegates meet JPC members in New Delhi for Citizenship Bill

Guwahati/New Delhi: The representatives of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) party, led by party president Atul Bora, met the members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee for Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 on Monday.

In the team AGP President, Atul Bora was joined by State Minister, Keshab Mahata and Minister Phani Bhushan Choudhury and among others.

As per a report, the delegation went to New Delhi on Sunday and met Joint-Parliamentary Committee (JPC) member Swapan Dasgupta today.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 is likely to submit a draft report to the committee on November 20.

As per national media report, a member of the JPC, who do not want to be named, said that some members have suggested taking Bangladesh out of the purview of the Bill, however, there is no official confirmation on this so far.

Furthermore, JPC Chairman Rajendra Agrawal had also sought for an opinion from each of the individual members of the JPC on the Bill before the committee takes a final view.

Also, there are reports that the state of Assam is witnessing series of protest against the bill. On the other hand, some organisations in Bengali dominated Barak valley districts are reportedly supporting the bill.

It may also be mentioned that this bill is aimed at making minority communities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for applying for Indian citizenship is under the consideration of Joint parliamentary committee of both the Houses.

The national report further claimed that the outlawed faction United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) are now using the public sentiment against the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill (2016) to bolster its cadre’s strength. It may further be mentioned that for the past few months several youths from the state have gone missing and thereafter joined the rebel group.

Recently, the nephew of ULFA-I, Commander-in-Chief, Paresh Baruah identified as Munna Baruah had also joined the outlawed militant organisation. The report was also confirmed from the Police sources from the Assam Police Headquarters to The Sentinel Digital over the phone.