Amid the fueling tensions and outrage in Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress party of misleading the country over their new legislation – the Citizenship Amendment bill.
Speaking at a rally in Jharkhand‘s Dhanbad, he said, “Congress in the past had promised relief to persecuted minority refugees but never did anything for them. The condition in which they were living in Pakistan, similar treatment was given by Congress governments to them. Don’t be misled by Congress’s statements. There are attempts to fuel tensions in the Northeast region. Most of the region is out of the ambit of this bill but politics of Congress and its allies depends on illegal immigrants”
He further said, “There are attempts to fuel tensions in Northeast, don’t be misled by Congress. Assure every state of East and Northeast. The traditions, culture, language etc of Assam and other states won’t be affected. The traditions, culture, language etc of Assam and other states will not be affected at all. Central Government will work with state Governments for your development.”
The Citizenship Amendment bill has been passed in both the houses (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) in the parliament and now awaits a nod from the President for the law to be implemented. The Bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, excluding Muslims, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship. The Bill relaxes the requirement of residence in India from 11 years to six years for these migrants.