Amid protests in northeast, government to table Citizenship Bill in Rajya Sabha
New Delhi, Feb 12 (IBNS): Amid protests in the northeast, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government on Tuesday will table the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in the Rajya Sabha, media reports said.
What is Citizenship Bill?
The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 is aimed to grant Indian citizenship to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
About 30 lakh people had submitted their claims for inclusion of their names in the final NRC during the claims and objections submission process ended on Dec 31 last.
Protests against the bill:
The civil societies of Mizoram will observe a "black day" as the bill will be tabled in the parliament on Tuesday, reported India Today.
While the BJP-led Assam government supported the bill, the state government employees have opposed the bill and took agitation programme across the state.
The state government employees had staged protest against the bill in Guwahati and other parts of the state.
All Assam State Government Employees Association General Secretary Fakaruddin Ahmed had said the state government employees opposed the bill, which violates the historical Assam Accord.
On the other hand, protesting against the bill, the families of 855 people killed in the six-year Assam movement returned the mementos awarded to them by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in 2016.
Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which recently snapped ties with the BJP over the Citizenship bill row, took out a protest rally against the bill in Guwahati.
Bhupen Hazarika's son returns Bharat Ratna:
Tej Hazarika, son of Bhupen Hazarika, told media that he will not be accepting the Bharat Ratna conferred on his father posthumously considering the present situation in Assam.
Earlier this year, Bhupen Hazarika was conferred the Bharat Ratna, posthumously.
BJP CMs oppose bill:
Two BJP Chief Ministers- Pema Khandu of Arunachal Pradesh and N Biren Singh of Manipur- have opposed the bill.
They have urged Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to ensure that the bill is not passed in the upper house of the parliament.
Status of the bill in parliament:
The Citizenship Bill will become a law if it gets passed in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP lacks majority.
Earlier, the bill was passed in Lok Sabha, the house of elected representatives.
Rajnath Singh will move the bill in the Rajya Sabha likely on Tuesday.
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