নাগরিকত্বঃ ফের জেপিসি বসবে ৩১ ডিসেম্বর
Citizenship Bill: JPC to sit again on 31 December

December 29: Will the BJP-led NDA government bring the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 in the Parliament before the term of the government expires in 2019? This speculation has become ripe because a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 is scheduled to be held on 31 December, 2018. The term of the JPC expires on January 2, 2019.

Though after heated debate, the BJP-led Union government seemed to have gone on the back foot and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was not to be tabled in the ongoing Winter session of the Parliament. This became further clear when the Press Information Bureau under the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has come up with a release stating the bills which would be tabled in the Winter Session but there was no mention of the much hyped Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in it. It needs mention here that the Winter Session of Parliament which started on December 11 will come to an end on January 8.

It is in this backdrop, that the meeting of JPC on 31 December assumes significance. In all probability, the JPC will discuss the 13 amendments which were moved by the members on the Citizenship Bill on Monday. The last meeting of the JPC remained inconclusive. JPC Chairman Rajendra Agrawal has assured to take note of the views of all its committee members.Though much water has flown through Barak and Brahmapurta after the formation of JPC, yet BJP seems to be a staunch supporter of the bill even at this moment.

Meanwhile, All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on Saturday called upon Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to take the lead demanding the withdrawal of the Citizenship Bill. The AASU also termed the December 31 meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Bill as “invalid”. Samujjal Bhattacharya, AASU advisor said, “It is time for Sonowal to prove whether he is with the indigenous people or illegal Bangladeshis.”

The JPC headed by Rajasthan MP Rajendra Agrawal has got 20 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members in it. Out of them four members are from Assam. They are Sushmita Dev from Congress, Ramen Deka from BJP and Bhubaneshwar Kalita also from Congress and Kamakhya Prasad Tasha. The Bill was originally intended to grant citizenship to the religious minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians) who have migrated from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan till 2014 due to religious persecution.