Guwahati: Meghalaya CM convenes 11 party meet against Citizenship Amendment Bill

Guwahati (Assam) [India], Jan 29 (ANI): Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People’s Party (NPP) president Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday convened a meeting of 11 regional parties from the North East to formulate a strategy against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016.
Under the leadership of Sangma, the meeting was attended by 11 regional political parties from the North East including NEDA allies AGP, NPP, NDPP, UDP, JD(U), IPFT opposed the Bill today.
Interestingly, NPP which convened the meeting is BJP’s partner in the ruling alliance in Meghalaya.
While Sangma was the convener of the meeting, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) was the co-convener of the meeting. AGP had snapped ties with the BJP in Assam earlier this month over the Bill.
Sharing details of the meeting AGP president Atul Bora said that the fight against the Bill will continue till the end.
While speaking to media, Bora said: “The anti-CAB regional parties may form a committee which will try to gather support from other regional parties against the controversial Bill".
On January 23, as many as 70 organisations, including Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), protested against the Bill in Guwahati.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8.
It 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.
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. (ANI)