Lok Sabha MP from Manipur Lorho Pfoze on Friday said the government is trying to convert the demographic profile of the Northeast by “dumping” outsiders in the volatile region under the garb of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB).
The Naga People’s Front (NPF) MP asked the BJP government at the Centre to pay heed to emotions and sentiments of the people of Northeast.
The CAB is likely to be introduced in Lok Sabha on December 9 and taken up for discussion and passage the next day.
The bill has been opposed by various organisations and political parties in Northeast and widespread protests being carried out at different places of the region.
Pfoze said the clamour raised by the people from the Northeast against the bill had coerced Union home minister Amit Shah to give an assurance that special arrangements would be made for some northeastern states so that they do not get impacted by the CAB.
However, the MP said there was no clarity from the Centre on the issue.
“Home minister Amit Shah had told us that there would be special arrangement for states like Manipur which he would announce in his speech when the bill is tabled in Parliament… There is no clarity yet,” he said.
Pfoze said that despite the assurance, there remains a lot of uncertainty about the Modi government’s intentions especially after the way it abrogated the provisions of Article 370 and bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.
“There is a lot of uncertainty looking at the way the government handles critical subjects. Look at the way Article 370 was abrogated… Until the day the special status was revoked and the bill brought in Parliament, everything seemed normal.
“… The Governor had said that they will not tamper with the special status of the state, but what happened on August 5 was surprising,” Pfoze said.
On Shah’s statement in Parliament that the National Register of Citizens would be implemented across the country, Pfoze said in the case of Manipur, the cut-off date should be 1971 since Muslim infiltration in the rural belts of the state is a serious issue.