Home minister Amit Shah on Monday made it clear that the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, (CAB) 2016, will not impact Article 371 of the Constitution.
“Privileges enjoyed by the northeastern states will not be affected because of CAB implementation,” Shah said.
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Shah was speaking at the 4th Conclave of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) held in Guwahati.
The meeting was attended by Northeast’s chief ministers, deputy chief ministers, Member of Parliaments belonging to BJP and its allies.
“There is no connection between Article 370 and Article 371 except the numerical order,” Shah said
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“While Article 370 was temporary, Article 371 is special provision and is a right of the Northeast,” Shah further added.
He also added that the party will bring back CAB but it will not overlap Article 371 or the other existing provisions in the northeast.
After the final NRC list in Assam was published, the other northeastern states expressed concern that excluded people from NRC might enter their states.
Allaying the fears, Shah said, “Neither the illegal infiltrators will be allowed to live here nor they will be allowed to enter other states.”
“We are going to bring CAB but the government is also going to take steps that secure the identity and culture of the indigenous people,” he said.
The home minister further said that the cut off date for granting citizenship under CAB will be December 31, 2014 and not beyond that.
Shah said that the Central government is going to be strict in dealing with the issues of cross border drugs smuggling, arms trafficking and human trafficking in the Northeast.
He appealed the states of the Northeast to coordinate among each other for ending these menaces.