Manipur Cabinet urges Centre to exempt state from Citizenship Amendment Bill purview

Our Correspondent

Imphal, Jan 10 (EMN): Manipur government in a cabinet meeting on Thursday resolved to urge the Centre to exempt Manipur from the jurisdiction of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The cabinet meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led coalition government was convened to review the situation arising out of the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha. Chief Minister N Biren Singh presided over the meeting.

The meeting also decided to urge the Centre to give assent to the Manipur People’s Protection (MPP) Bill, 2018 which was passed in the state assembly on July 23, 2018; seeks to regulate entry and exit of non-Manipuris from outside the state.

According to the Bill, non-Manipuris are required to get a permit from the authority to enter the state.

Taking note of the population of Manipur, which is only about 0.2 per cent of India’s total population with a large number of ethnic groups, the chief minister’s secretariat in a statement said that “adequate constitutional protection is considered necessary to protect this small indigenous population.”

Accordingly, the passage of the Manipur People’s Protection Bill (MPP) by the state assembly in order to protect the interest of the people of the state, has restored the confidence of the people of Manipur, it said.

The MPP Bill has since been moved to the President of India for his assent.

Considering the apprehension in the minds of the people that the Citizenship Amendment Bill will not be in the interest of the state’s indigenous people, the cabinet has taken a decision to urge the Centre to give assent to the MPP and also exclude Manipur from the purview of Citizenship Bill, said the statement.

Meanwhile the congress party and regional parties including Manipur People’s Party, North East Indian Development Party have opposed the move of the centre for passing the bill.

The Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has demanded the BJP-led government in Manipur to convene an immediate assembly session to take a decision on the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill.

Various civil society organisations — All Manipur United Clubs Organisations, Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit system have opposed the passing of the bill.

Democratic Students’ Alliance of Manipur staged a protest rally against the Bill had separately asked the state government to announce their stand on the Bill.