Don't deride people's movements: Cong to BJP
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 12 2019:
Noting that BJP Manipur Pradesh has been speaking as if the spontaneous people's movement against the passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) 2016 was instigated by Congress party, Congress party has warned rival BJP to stop deriding people's movements.
Speaking to media persons at Congress Bhavan here today, Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) general secretary and spokesman Kh Devabratta said that the Congress party urged the State Government to convene a special session of the State Assembly to discuss the CAB 2016 as the party is deeply concerned with the tense situation unfolding in the whole North East region including Manipur after the same Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha.
Chief Minister N Biren's trip to New Delhi to urge the Central Government and the President of India to give assent to the Manipur People's Protection (MPP) Bill 2018 at this crucial juncture instead of convening a special session of the State Assembly to adopt a concrete decision is rather inappropriate, Devabratta said.
It is a matter of grave concern that BJP Manipur Pradesh has been deriding the people's spontaneous movement as well as CLP leader Okram Ibobi's statements on the issue of CAB 2016.The mass movements which erupted after the CAB 2016 was passed in the Lok Sabha were spontaneous and there was no question of Congress party fueling or instigating the movements, said the MPCC spokesman.
According to the Constitution, the State Assembly is the highest authority in the State and there is an urgent need to study the issue of CAB 2016 minutely in the State Assembly and apprise the Central Government about the people's anxiety and apprehension, he said.
Reacting to statements made by a spokesman of BJP Manipur Pradesh before media yesterday, Devabratta remarked that those statements smacked of utter irresponsibility and arrogance.
The CAB 2016 which has been passed by the Lok Sabha is a very powerful one and it was driven by a hidden agenda, The BJP spokesman was quite wrong when he claimed that the MPP Bill 2018 would be able to neutralise the CAB 2016, Devabratta said.
Even if the MPP Bill 2016 becomes an Act, it would not serve any purpose if the CAB 2016 too becomes an Act, he cautioned.
Whereas MPP Bill 2016 seeks to regulate non-Manipuri Indian citizens who came to the State after 1951, CAB 2016 seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindu and non-Muslim people who immigrated to India illegally and had completed six years in India.
The CAB 2016 also seeks to give a right to the immigrants to wait for completion of six years.
Even if it is assumed that MPP Bill 2018 becomes an Act, it would not be able to regulate influx of migrants as the CAB Bill would grant Indian citizenship to immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
If the Government threatens to violate rights of citizens, it is only natural for the people to come out to streets and protest, said the Congress spokesman.
He also condemned the police crackdown on protesters at Khwairamband Keithel yesterday where four people sustained injuries.
Hareshwar Goswami, another spokesman of MPCC, said that the Congress party's foremost desire is withdrawal of the CAB 2016 passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8.Before the Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, Congress party submitted a representation to the Joint Parliamentary Committee against the Bill, Moreover, a Congress delegation called on the President and the Union Home Minister and urged them not to pass the Bill, Hareshwar said.
He also questioned the Cabinet decision to exempt Manipur from the purview of CAB 2018 while the State Government was saying that CAB 2018 would not affect Manipur in any manner.
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