JPC to meet for for last time on 20 November before finalising report

November 19: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 will be meeting for the last and final time on 20 November before finalising its report on this contentious issue. JPC Chairman Rajendra Agrawal has assured to take note of the views of all its committee members.

The JPC headed by Rajasthan MP Rajendra Agrawal has got 20 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members in it. Out of them three members are from Assam. They are Sushmita Dev from Congress, Ramen Deka from BJP and Bhubaneshwar Kalita also from Congress. 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.

However, on the face of protest, the Bill has received in the Brahmaputra Valley from AASU, AGP and 70 odd indigenous organizations, the JPC is learnt to have decided to keep Bangladesh out of the purview of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. Before submitting the bill, the JPC will be meeting for the final time on 20 November in New Delhi to incorporate the views of all the committee members.Meanwhile, the BJP and AGP has positioned themselves miles apart on the issue of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. A team of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) led by party president Atul Bora met the JPC on Monday. The main motive behind the visit is to convince the JPC members against filing their report in the ensuing Parliamentary winter session in December. AGP was infact vocal against the bill since its very inception.

After tomorrow’s meeting, the JPC will finalise its report on the bill and submit it for placing the bill in the Winter Session of the Parliament, which is scheduled to begin from 11 December. Political analysts are of the view that if the said bill is passed excluding Bangladesh from the purview of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 then it may result in great loss for the BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.