Citizenship Amendment Bill to be tabled in Lok Sabha today amid massive protests in North East

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is all set to move the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill on Monday, in the Lok Sabha. The matter is listed in the day's business for the Lok Sabha amid widespread protests in the Northeast against what many of its residents claim is a move to nullify a decades-old accord aimed at stemming illegal immigration.

This move comes days after the Union Cabinet last Wednesday approved the Bill.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that seeks to provide Indian nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists fleeing persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, has already faced cold vibes from opposition with the Congress calling it "unconstitutional".

IANS has learnt that three northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram -- where the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime is applicable will be out of the purview of the CAB that created a political row in the area in the run-up to the 2019 general election. The ILP is an official travel document issued by the government of India to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period

The politically sensitive Bill will leave out tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura as well, sources said. These are the tribal areas where autonomous councils and districts were created under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution.

Several opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, have called the amendment as discriminatory. "If you give citizenship to all communities, we will accept it. But if you discriminate on the basis of religion, we will fight it," Banerjee warned the centre recently. Tharoor called it a "fundamentally unconstitutional" piece of legislation that violates the "basic idea of India".

Minority outfits too have lashed out against the Bill for leaving out Muslims and also on the ground that it is at odds with the Constitution, which does not differentiate between citizens on the basis of their faith.

CPM has already held a press conference on Sunday to announce that they will move two amendments to the proposed Bill.

Protests held in Manipur against CAB

Supporting the movement, spearheaded by the Manipur People Against CAB (Manpac), protesters came out in large numbers in many areas of the city on Sunday while women vendors of a temporary market staged a sit-in against the proposed legislation.

The women vendors of the Panthoibi temporary market at Khwairamban Keithel stopped their daily work and joined the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, a market committee official said.

The city police dismantled the 'shamiyana' (tent), set up by the women agitators and dispersed them to stop their movement, a senior officer said.

Convenor of Manpac, Yumnamcha Dilip said that people would continue to oppose the contentious bill.

The agitators have already announced that they will intensify their protests from Sunday midnight as the Centre is likely to introduce the bill in Parliament on Monday despite stiff opposition by various organisations in the region.

with agency inputs