Congress' Debabrata Saikia calls for a special session in Assam State Assembly over CAB

Amidst growing concerns and protests in North-East after the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Congress member and leader of the opposition in the Assam State Assembly Debabrata Saikia has proposed for a special session of the State Assembly to discuss the issue of the Bill and the growing protests and concerns cited by leaders. 

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Request for a special session of Assam State Assembly 

Speaking to the media he said, "I have requested the Speaker to call a special session of the state assembly to discuss the concerns of people of Assam over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019. We can hold discussions regarding the current situation in Assam due to the Bill and the concerns of the people can also be discussed." At least two people have died in the protests and multiple security forces have been deployed in many areas of North East India. Cellular and broadband internet services have also been suspended in multiple areas. 

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The CAB seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they will not be considered as illegal migrants. Additionally, the mandatory residence period for naturalised citizenship for these communities would be reduced to 5 years. Several parties in the North East such as the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) have been vehemently opposed to this Bill. The opposition contends that the Bill discriminates on the basis of religion, which might go against Article 14, which guarantees the right to equality. The CAB was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday after a day-long debate. Two days later, the Upper House of the Parliament cleared the Bill with a majority.

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