JPC to hold public hearing today

HINDU MIGRANTS’ ISSUE

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, May 6:  The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 will hold a public hearing in the city on Monday to elicit opinions from various organizations and citizens on the Centre’s move to grant citizenship to Hindu migrants from Bangladesh.

The daylong hearing to be held at Assam Administrative Staff College at Khanapara on Monday will see over 130 leading organizations from the Brahmaputra Valley submitting representations to the JPC to vehemently oppose the move to grant citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis.

The JPC was constituted on August 11, 2016 to examine the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, and present a report. The committee has four MPs from Assam -- Bhubaneswar Kalita (Congress), Ramen Deka (BJP), Sushmita Dev (Congress) and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (BJP).

The All Assam Students’ Unionn which is spearheading a movement against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, has appealed to all sections of people and organizations to raise their voice against the Centre’s move to grant citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis before the JPC on Monday.

“No genuine Assamese should miss tomorrow’s opportunity to stage protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill before the JPC. The Bill, if passed by the Parliament, will spell a disaster for Assam,” AASU chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharjya said.

On other hand the JPC will hold a public hearing on the same issue in Barak Valley on May 8 and 9. The JPC, led by its chairman and Meerut MP Rajendra Agrawal, will visit the Barak Valley to collect memoranda and hear the views of people, including NGOs, civil societies and individuals. Over 300 organizations are expected to submit representations to the JPC during its hearing at the conference hall of the National Institute of Technology in Silchar on Tuesday and Wednesday.