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Govt circulates CAB among MPs

By KALYAN BAROOAH

NEW DELHI, Dec 6 - The Centre has said that the illegal migrants who entered India up to the cutoff date of December 31, 2014 needs a special regime to govern their citizenship matters.

The Central government on Thursday night formally circulated the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 among the members of Parliament. The Bill is now scheduled to be tabled in Lok Sabha on December 9 and taken up for passage on December 10. Thereafter, the Bill will go to Rajya Sabha for discussion and passage. All BJP MPs have been issued whips to be present in the House on December 9-11, sources said.

Meanwhile, the Opposition parties are likely to press for sending the CAB to Parliamentary Select Committee, while All India Trinamool Congress MP Derek O�Brien said that they will oppose the Bill. �We will fight for the heart and soul of this country,� he told this newspaper.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP and Assam Congress president Ripun Bora on Friday sat on a silent dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi�s statue in front of the Parliament House in protest against the Bill.

�Today I staged a protest in front of Parliament House to show my solidarity with Congress workers of Assam, who are on hunger strike across the State to protest against the CAB. I also individually registered my protest here in Parliament against CAB,� Bora told newsmen.

Meanwhile, the Statements of Object and Reasons of the CAB said that the Central government or an authority, specified by it, shall grant certificate of registration or naturalisation subject to such conditions, restriction and manner as may be prescribed. Since many of them have entered India long back, they may be given citizenship of India from the date of their entry in India, if they fulfil conditions of Indian citizenship specified in Section 5 or qualification or conditions for naturalisation under the provisions of the Third Schedule of the Act.

Many persons of Indian origin, including people belonging to the minority communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, have been applying for citizenship under Section 5 of the Citizenship Act 1955 but are unable to provide proof of their Indian origin. Hence they are forced to apply for citizenship by naturalisation under Section 6 of the Act, which among others prescribe 12 years of residency as a qualification for naturalisation. This denies them many opportunities and advantages that may accrue only to citizens of India even though they are likely to stay in India permanently.

Therefore, it is proposed to amend the Third Schedule to make applicants belonging to the communities from these countries eligible for citizenship by naturalisation, if they can establish their residency in India for five years instead of existing 11 years.

The Bill further seeks to protect the constitutional guarantee of the North Eastern States covered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and statutory protection given to areas under the Inner Line System.

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