The two Meghalaya BJP MLAs have sent a memorandum to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
The BJP legislator, Sanbor Shullai said that during the BJP’s National Convention held at Ram Lila Maidan (Ground) New Delhi, he along with the other BJP MLA, A L Hek handed over a memorandum along with the state BJP president Shibun Lyngdoh to the PM opposing the Bill.
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The memorandum said that the Bill would further aggravate the prevailing problem of influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh which the state had been grappling with since Independence.
Stating the Bill has triggered wide spread negative sentiment among the people of the North Eastern States, the memorandum said that the Bill also undermined the ongoing updation of 1951 NRC which like the Assam Accord also uses the 24th March 1971 cut-off date to determine the list of Assam citizens.
“The new Bill will nullify the objective of the NRC as well as the foundation of Assam Accord as it has a cut-off date of 31st December, 2014,” the memorandum said.
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While referring to Meghalaya which shares an international porous border of 443 km with Bangladesh, the memorandum said that the people of Meghalaya feared that the Bill would irrevocably dilute the strength of the indigenous population.
In another memorandum submitted by Shullai to the Prime Minister, he asked the NDA government to reconsider its move to implement the Bill in North Eastern states or omit Bangladesh from the proposed Bill, failing which, “I shall have no other option but to take a strong decision considering the plight of my people of my state.”
Shullai also said, “The proposed implementation of the Bill has caused widespread resentment among the people of my state, and North East as a whole and as such, has made me reconsidered my allegiance with the party.”
He added, “Further the Bill was passed not taking into consideration the plight of the people of the North Eastern states and this shows negligence of the national party towards the people of the North Eastern states.”