Members of various organisations today protested against granting of Indian citizenship to Hindu foreigners saying it will threaten the existence of the indigenous people of Assam as the Joint Parliamentary
Committee on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 began its hearing here.
The 16-member committee headed by BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal visited the state under public pressure to inculcate opinions of organisations and individuals on the Bill.
Several organisations and citizens voiced their concern against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 which they claimed would breach the clauses of the 'historic Assam Accord' of 1985 that states all illegal foreigners who came to Assam after 1971 from Bangladesh irrespective of religion have to be deported.
The protesters went in a peaceful procession to the Assam Administrative Staff College, where the JPC was conducting its hearing on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and submitted their memoranda, the police said.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955.
A key amendment in the bill, however, seeks to grant citizenship to people without valid documents from minority communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India.
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Voicing his protest, Akhil Gogoi the leader of 'Krishak Mukti Sangram Samitee (KMSS)' said if such a bill is passed the identity of the indigenous people of Assam will be at stake.
It will also threaten the existence of the Assamese language and lead to identity crisis among its people, he claimed.
The organisations/individuals which did not register their names earlier were also heard and their memoranda received by the committee, official sources said.
Stating that the dates for the maiden tour of the JPC was fixed by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, sources claimed that it will hear the representatives tomorrow at Silchar in south Assam.
Many organisations and individuals who submitted memorandum to the Committee claimed that they were not given receipts and feared their documents would not be considered when the JPC takes the final decision on the Bill.
An official release here said all the organisations and individuals would be heard throughout the day and in the evening too.
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