Grant citizenship on the basis of 2014 voters’ list

Our Correspondent

Silchar: “The implementation of Clause 6 (A) will render Bengalis of Assam second class citizens. There is no doubt about it,” said All India Mahila Congress president and Member of Parliament from Silchar Sushmita Dev at a get-together with mediapersons in Silchar on Monday.

She said that her position regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, has always been clear and that her view on NRC has not undergone any change either. She said the same thing even before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). She said, “Let it be clear for once and all. All aspiring candidates of ensuing Lok Sabha polls or political parties or organizations should state clearly whether they do or do not need the votes of those who have been excluded from the final draft list of NRC. We seek votes from those persons whom we want to drive out? How can such contradictory dualism be accepted?”

It is most probable that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is not going to be finalized before the Lok Sabha polls. As such, those 40 lakh people whose names were excluded from the final draft list of NRC published on June 30, 2018 will cast their votes in the ensuing election. Of late, the MP has been facing series of protests. People have burnt her effigy for the reason that she walked out from the Lok Sabha along with her party members when the Bill was debated. Moreover, a section of the Muslims waved black flags to her because she did not protest in the premises of the Parliament.

“Citizenship should be accorded and granted on the basis of the voters’ list of 2014. Those who voted for me and made me an MP cannot be foreigners. Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and I raised a question in the Lok Sabha regarding the number of foreigners in the voter list of 2014. The Election commission said that in the voter list of 2014, there was not a single foreigner. Thus, all those people whose names were there in the voter list of 2014 should be granted citizenship. Our stand has always been clear. I was, I am and I will be with Congress,” she added.

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