NEW DELHI, July 7 - The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) today described the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 as highly discriminatory and unconstitutional.
Addressing media here today, JIH secretary general Muhammad Salim Engineer said the Bill is against the spirit of the Constitution, as it proposes to grant citizenship to people from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on the basis of religion. �Thus Hindus from Bangladesh would be accepted but not Muslims,�� he argued.
He said Jamaat-e-Islami Hind was part of a fact-finding team consisting of journalists and human rights activists that recently visited Assam to find out how the NRC process is being implemented. Its recommendations would be released shortly, he informed.
About the National Register of Citizens (NRC) issue, the JIH leader said they are concerned with the publication of the NRC in Assam. So far, the NRC has held 1.9 crore people of the 3.3 crore applications to be valid and bona fide citizens of India, he said, adding, the fate of 1.4 crore people hangs in balance. �The number of those declared as foreigners has increased dramatically after the BJP government came to power in Assam,� he alleged.
Jamaat expects that the government agencies entrusted with the task of preparing the list of legal citizens shall discharge their duty diligently and without bias, he said. �Those in power in the State and the Centre should also ensure that communal elements are reined in, and law and order is maintained in Assam,� he said.
