Citizenship bill will help children of 'Maa Bharti' living in Pak, Afghanistan, B'desh: PM

Vijaypur (Jammu and Kashmir) Feb 3 (ANI): Batting for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said his government would stand with the children of "Maa Bharti" who were separated from their motherland during 1947 partition.
He said the Bill will facilitate people who faced persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8. The bill is yet to be passed in the Rajya Sabha and would be tabled in the Upper House during the ongoing budget session of the Parliament.
The bill will facilitate citizenship of six identified minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who came to India before 31 December 2014.
“We have brought in a proposal to amend the Citizenship law to help those who had to leave the country during the partition. There are many sons and daughters of Maa Bharti in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who had to suffer during the circumstances which emerged during 1947,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a rally in Jammu and Kashmir’s Vijaypur.
The proposed amendment in the Bill will make these persecuted migrants eligible to apply for citizenship. Under the proposed amendment, the minimum residency period for citizenship is being reduced from the existing 12 years under the present law to seven years. However, citizenship will be given to them only after due scrutiny and recommendation of district authorities and the state government.
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, PM Modi said, “Whenever elections come up, the Congress party gets a fever of loan waivers. There were loans of about Rs. 6 lakh crore but when the Congress came into power they approved only Rs. 52000 crore worth loan waivers.”
“One Rank One Pension scheme was lingering for so many years but nothing was done. Our government has given Rs. 35000 crore for it already. When our finance minister was reading out the budget on Friday, the faces of the opposition leaders were hung up, they lost their senses,” he added.
Speaking next on Kashmiri Pandits, the Prime Minister said, “Today, I want to speak on a very important issue – Kashmiri Pandits. The centre is committed for their pride and honour. India can never forget the time of violence and terror when they had to leave their homes.”
He further assured the family of the martyrs that the central government is with them at every step. I also want to assure the families who are facing shelling from across the border that all efforts are being made to strengthen their security,” the Prime Minister added.
He added that when he started the campaign to open bank accounts, people made fun of it.”Now, you understand the benefit of the Jan Dhan Yojna? Rs. 75000 would go straight into the accounts of the farmers,” Prime Minister said. (ANI)