NESO opposes Citizenship Amendment Bill; demands implementation of ILP, NRC across NE

The North East Students Organisation (NESO) opposing the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) 2019 has put forward four demands to Home Minister Amit Shah in order to protect the various indigenous communities across the Northeastern states. NESO in their opposition have urged the Home Minister to hold the current amendment of the Citizenship Act keeping in mind the sentiments of the indigenous citizens in the northeastern states.

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NESO's demands

NESO has demanded the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system across the northeastern states exempting the northeastern region from the ambit of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of Friendship, 1950. Other demands included the base year in implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Northeastern states to be differed depending upon the unique history of each state and constitutional safeguards with rights over land and natural resources, amongst others.

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'Influx will add to the problem'

NESO chief Samuel Jyrwa opined that the CAB will add to the influx of people, in turn, making the indigenous citizens a minority in their homeland. Talking about the population explosion in India, he cited the alarming population growth of 27.8 per cent in Meghalaya as per the 2011 census which is alleged due to the influx of people from Bangladesh and added that the CAB will only add to the problems.

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Home Minister holding meetings with Northeastern states over CAB

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday held discussions with leaders of political parties, students bodies, and civil society groups of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya on the contours of the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). According to sources, the Chief Ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, Union minister Kiren Rijiju, and several MPs attended the meetings separately. The Home Minister had met representatives from Tripura and Mizoram on Friday and will meet the leaders from Nagaland on December 3. He is holding meetings in the wake of strong protests in the Northeast against the CAB. The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, in order to grant Indian nationality to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians, who come to India due to religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan even if they don't possess proper documents.

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(With input from agencies)