Bowing to public pressure, the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 has decided to visit Assam from May 7 to May 10 to take views of various stakeholders on the bill.
The parliamentary panel, headed by BJP MP Rajendra Agrawal, will hold meeting with different organisations on May 7 and May 8 in Guwahati and Silchar respectively. The members of the panel will visit Shillong on May 9 and will hold meeting with different groups on May 10.
The Forum Against Citizenship Act Amendment Bill, a group comprising conscious citizens, senior journalists and public intellectuals, on April 13 staged a protest in Guwahati demanding the JPC visit Assam for a public hearing instead of New Delhi.
The Forum also demanded removal Rajendra Agrawal from the post of chairman of the JPC on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. Following protests, the JPC was formed by the Centre in September 2016 to seek public opinion. The panel on April 17 took views in New Delhi from a section of organisations of Assam.