No Dilution of Laws To Safeguard Indigenous People: Amit Shah

No Dilution of Laws To Safeguard Indigenous People: Amit Shah

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday asserted that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) will not hurt the existing laws to safeguard cultural and ethnic identities of indigenous people of the North East as well Article 371.

Shah’s assertion came after Chief Ministers of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram expressed fear and apprehensions about grave threat that will pose to indigenous people of the region once the CAB becomes a law, during the fourth conclave of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) held here on Monday.

“Article 371 which grants special provisions to the North East, is the right of the people of the region. The CAB will not hurt Article 371. Apart from this, the existing laws meant to safeguard cultural and ethnic identities of the people of NE will remain untouched by the CAB,” Shah said while addressing the NEDA conclave.

Shah said the CAB has set December 31, 2014 as the cut-off date and it will take care of only those people who came to India within the said deadline.

On the issue of possibility of those excluded in the final NRC in Assam to enter the neighbouring States, Shah said the Centre intends to expel all illegal immigrants not just from Assam but the entire country.

Earlier speaking at the NEDA conclave Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma expressed concerns over the CAB. Northeast has fears on the Bill, Sangma said, urging Union Home Minister to take all the States of the region into confidence before bringing in the legislation.

Sangma questioned whether the Centre will bypass discussions with the States before reintroducing the bill.

“What will happen after CAB? Will people continuously come from Bangladesh? Will there be any deadline or a continuous flow? We, in Northeast, have such fears,” Sangma said. He requested the Centre to invite all stakeholders to discuss and arrive at a consensus over the issue.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio while addressing the NEDA conclave said the “highly controversial” CAB will change the demography of the North East, if it is implemented by the Centre.

“We believe it will change the demography of the North East. We need to understand the ground situation,” Rio said. He hoped that Shah and the Central government would “listen to us”.

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga requested Shah to exclude the North East from the purview of the CAB, saying that all political parties that supported the Bill are on the “verge of suicide”.

“If at all, the Bill has to be implemented, please see if the Northeast can be excluded from it. I request you to look into the vulnerability of the region. The CAB is a very sensitive issue here. In most of the States where political parties supported it, they are on the verge of suicide,” Zoramthanga said.

Meanwhile, NEDA convener Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters on Monday evening that Amit Shah has assured eight Chief Ministers of NE that the proposed CAB will not, in any way, override the provisions of the Sixth Schedule, Inner Line Permit and State Acts like the ‘Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act’.

“All the current laws and regulations and State laws enacted for protecting the cultural, linguistic and other rights of NE region will not get diluted by the proposed CAB,” Sarma said.

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