ITANAGAR, May 9 - At a time when the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 has been vehemently opposed by the people of Assam, the People�s Party of Arunachal (PPA) today expressed that it is worried over the stoic silence of the BJP-led Government in Arunachal Pradesh regarding its stand on the controversial Bill proposed by Centre to make migrants of six communities eligible for citizenship of India.
It said the State Government must come out clean on its views and stand over the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 in the country as the State Government of Meghalaya has taken.
�Inspite of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 hearing sessions in Assam and Meghalaya going on in full swing through the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) appointed by Centre for collecting the opinion of the stakeholders over the controversial Bill, the people of Arunachal don�t seem to be aware of its future fallouts. The People�s Party of Arunachal wants the Government of Arunachal to break its silence by finding out why the JPC appointed to hear the opinions of various stakeholders has no programme to visit our State.
�We want to know the reasons for the JPC not visiting this State. Is it because Arunachal is protected by the Inner Line Permit (ILP) Regulation Act and therefore been left out of the ambit of the Bill or is it because the Government of Arunachal has not invited the JPC to the State. The government must clear all these doubts because the State is already in the grip of the fear of refugee issues of Chakma-Hajongs and Tibetans,� stated PPA secretary general Kaling Jerang in a release here.
He also said, the Government of Arunachal must also be aware of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) updation exercise going on in neighbouring Assam because of which the discarded Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims could sneak into various districts in the State bordering Assam.
The PPA was of the opinion that the new Bill if enacted would trigger an existential crisis for the indigenous people in various Northeastern States especially in the neighbouring State like Assam having immediate and common boundary with Arunachal which has, over the decades borne the brunt of large-scale illegal migration from Bangladesh to the extent that disturbing demographic changes are already visible across various districts in that State.
Arunachal being the border State cannot be a mute spectator over this vexed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 because the entry points between both the States are quite porous and it could be the safe haven for the rejected and illegal migrants from Assam as a fall out of the NRC exercise.
Under such a grim situation, the State Government must come out with a clear stand as to why the JPC should not visit the State and also tell the Central Government as to why the people of Arunachal Pradesh should not vehemently oppose the controversial Bill, it added.
