NEW DELHI, Feb 7 - Asserting that passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 will violate the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise, the Congress party on Thursday demanded that the sanctity of the Assam Accord must be kept.
Making a zero hour mention in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi said the NRC is being updated in Assam and the process has cost a lot of money, and still now, many genuine Indian citizens are left out of the draft NRC.
�The Supreme Court has been monitoring this exercise and recently pulled up the government for delaying the NRC process. It shows lack of seriousness on the part of the government and the Supreme Court used some very harsh words,� the Congress MP said.
�I request the government to speed up the implementation of the NRC and also keep in mind the present situation in the Northeast and the entire India regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. If passed, the Bill will violate the entire NRC process and it will also violate the Assam Accord,� he said.
�I hope, the government would keep in mind that the Assam Accord says that after March 25, 1971, any illegal migrant who enters India should be detained and deported immediately,� Gogoi added.
The Speaker allowed NK Premachandran, PK Kunhalikutty and ET Mohammad Basheer to associate with the issue raised by Gaurav Gogoi.
The Congress MPs said that consensus continues to elude the BJP-led NDA, as some regional parties have backed out and pledged to oppose the Bill in Rajya Sabha. BJP national president Amit Shah has said that the Bill will be brought in Rajya Sabha only if there is a consensus.
