The dual standard taken by the Indian Nation Congress (INC) on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill has been exposed. In a letter, Sushmita Dev, INC Silchar MP has urged Rajendra Agrawal, the Chairperson of Joint Parliament Committee on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, to grant unconditional citizenship for all persons of Indian origin who entered the Indian Territory up to 31 December 2014.
At a time, when INC Rajya Sabha MPs from Assam, including APCC president Ripun Bora and senior party leader Bhubaneswar Kalita have opposed the Bill in the upper house of the parliament on Wednesday, the Silchar MP sent the letter to Rajendra Agrawal on January 4.
She favoured of awarding unconditional and guaranteed citizenship to those who have got a historical claim to it. Dev further suggested, "Persons migrated into Assam, who had their manes in the electoral roll as updated in the year 2014 in respect of Parliamentary Constituencies in the State of Assam, shall not be required to prove their identity as Citizens of India or treated as illegal migrants under any law for the time being in force."
In the letter she also wrote, "Persons who have migrated to India on account of religious, social or any other form of persecution or civil disturbance or fear of such persecution or disturbance shall not be treated as illegal migrants for the purpose of this Act."
Meanwhile, several organisations in Barak Valley on Thursday staged protest against Narendra Modi led BJP government for their effort to impose Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Assam. The organisations burnt effigies of Narendra Modi as well as Silchar MP Sushmita Dev for her support towards the Bill.
