Parliament updates

The constitutional amendment bill to provide 10 per cent reservation in jobs and educational institutions for economically weaker sections in the general category has been tabled in Lok Sabha. While the winter session of Lok Sabha ends today, the government has extended the Rajya Sabha session till Wednesday to push the passage of the reservation bill.

Amid a bandh in the north-east states, Home Minister Rajasthan Singh moved the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in Lok Sabha Tuesday. The bill proposes to make minority (non-Muslim) immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who have entered India before December 31, 2014 eligible for Indian citizenship. Amid a discussion over the bill, Congress and TMC MPs walked out of the Lok Sabha.

Don’t include Bangladesh in Citizenship Bill: BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab

Moving an amendment to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab says Bangladesh should not be included if Sri Lanka and Myanmar are not considered. “Don’t open old fault lines,” he says. Mahtab further contends that those who face religious persecution in Pakistan should be given Citizenship, but wants Bangladesh out of the list till the National Register of Citizens process is complete and Bejbaruah report is submitted.

Hindu minorities have no option other than India: BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab

Biju Janata Dal MP from Cuttack Bhartruhari Mahtab says that while Christians and Muslims had other options, Hindu minorities from neighbouring countries don’t have any place to go but India. Speaking on the Citizenship Bill, Mahtab says members of the JPC had visited many parts of country like Gujarat and Rajasthan where many refugees from Pakistan and other countries had settled and were living in “wretched” conditions. He also pointed out that many people from Africa had come to India but they cannot get citizenship.

Discussions on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is still on in the Lok Sabha. Biju Janata Dal MP from Cuttack Bhartruhari Mahtab says he had recommended to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to include Sri Lanka in the Bill. “The minorities don’t have an option,” he says.

As many as six members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which examined the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, gave their dissent notes on the report of the panel. Mahtab had stated that the Bill contravened provisions of the principal Act and ran counter to the spirit of the 1985 Assam Accord