Cong too backed CAB : State BJP
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 28 2019: BJP Manipur Pradesh has categorically stated that all the provisions and clauses of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) 2016 are what the Congress party demanded for 67 years even though the Bill was passed very easily in the Lok Sabha at the initiative of BJP-led NDA Government.

Speaking to media persons today, BJP Manipur Pradesh spokesman Ch Bijoy said that since India achieved independence till 2014, Congress leaders said that Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains and Parsis who came to India from Pakistan and Afghanistan would be granted Indian citizenship.

Mahatma Gandhi made a similar statement during a prayer meeting held on September 26, 1947.The Congress Working Committee then adopted a resolution to this end on November 26, 1947, Bijoy said.

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote a letter to the Chief Minister of Assam on May 18, 1949 to accommodate Hindus, Sikhs and Christians who fled into the State from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) .

The first President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad too promised to implement the contents of the CAB in his oath taking speech.

Similar statements formed a part of Jawaharlal Nehru's Declaration of Independence speech, claimed the BJP spokesman.

Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri too issued an instruction on June 16, 1966 that all the people who migrated to India from East Pakistan without necessary documents should be granted Indian citizenship.

There was President's Rule in Assam from 1979 to 1980.During this period, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gave voting rights to Hindus, Sikhs and Christians who fled into Assam from Bangladesh even before the immigrants were granted Indian citizenship.

This was nothing but Congress party's vote bank politics, Bijoy asserted.

Dr Manmohan Singh raised a demand similar to the CAB on December 18, 2003 when he was the Opposition leader in Rajya Sabha but he did not speak a single word about the issue when he became the Prime Minister.

Nonetheless, a gazette notification was issued on June 10, 2010 when Dr Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister for giving long term visa extension to people belonging to minority communities of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who sought Indian citizenship, Bijoy continued.

A Cabinet decision was adopted by the Government of Assam led by Tarun Gogoi in 2011 to implement an Act quite similar to the CAB.

It was only at this time that BJP started supporting CAB, he said.

Reacting to Congress party's claim that CAB is communal as it excludes Muslims, the BJP spokesman pointed out that the Bill pursued by Congress since 1947 did not include Muslims.

As such, if CAB is communal, all Congress leaders are communal.

He also rejected the Congress party's propaganda that if CAB is passed, 170 lakh Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh would overwhelm all the indigenous communities of the North East.

Immigrants who came to India after December 31, 2014 would not be covered by CAB, he said.

As per CAB 2016, immigrants should first apply for long term visa before applying for Indian citizenship.

Application for long term visa should be submitted to the DC of the place where an immigrant has been living for six years.

After the DC has processed the application, the State Home Department may either approve or reject the application, he said.

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