Amid concerns in the Northeast over the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) which is aimed at providing citizenship to religious minorities from neighbouring countries including Pakistan and Bangladesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday held a meeting with the leaders of the region.
This is the third meeting in the series between Shah; and politicos and civil society organisations over the issue.
Earlier during the day, Assam minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said the meeting on Tuesday is the final round in the series.
"Today is the final round of meeting with Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. After this, the framework of Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) will be formulated. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has indicated that CAB will be introduced in this Parliament session," Sarma said.
Shah had earlier batted for the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha, asserting that the bill is needed so that refugees from minorities communities like the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Christian and Parsi coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan will be eligible for Indian citizenship.
The move aims at providing protection to minority refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, relaxing the requirement of stay from 11 to 6 years.
BJP leaders have pitched the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the CAB as a package that will root out illegal migrants but will provide citizenship to persecuted communities from the neighbouring countries.
