Manipur Congress delegation meets Rajnath to protest citizenship law amendment
New Delhi, June 27: A delegation from Congress' Manipur unit on Wednesday met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and submitted a memorandum demanding scrapping of Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 and making public the framework agreement signed between the government and NSCN-IM.
The 25-member delegation led by former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh also sought appointment from President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi but did not get it. They marched from Vijay Chowk to Rashtrapati Bhawan but could not meet the President.
"We came here (Delhi) to submit a memorandum to the President, Prime Minister and Home Minister regarding three issues. One is about framework agreement signed between government of India and NSCN-IM. Another is citizenship amendment bill 2016
"The third issue is about the Vice-Chancellor of Manipur University," Ibobi Singh told reporters.
"If the citizenship bill is amended, there will be huge impact, particularly in northest because it will become dumping ground of all those citizens who are coming from Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan," he said.
Ibobi Singh said the bill should be withdrawn straight away. "We cannot accept it. We will fight it tooth and nail. This bill cannot be passed by the Parliament," he said.
He also demanded that the framework agreement signed between the Central government and the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah must be made public. "What are contents of that framework agreement, no one knows. Till today it has not been disclosed. Why has it been kept as a confidential document by the government," he asked.
"This is a huge problem for Manipur. Interlocutor R. N. Ravi said the framework agreement is in its final stage. So, one bill could be passed in the Parliament during the monsoon session....
"So we want to know what are the contents of the framework agreement. Without consulting the state concerned and the people of Manipur, we cannot accept it. It should be scrapped otherwise," he added.
On the third issue, he said: "For the last nearly one month, there is an unrest in Manipur University. The students are not attending classes, they have totally stopped the functioning of the university."
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'I go to Parliament to create impact, not ruckus': Raghav Chadha rubbishes AAP's allegations
New Delhi (PTI): "I go to Parliament to create impact, not ruckus," said Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Saturday as he rejected allegations levelled against him by the Aam Aadmi Party, calling them "false" and part of a "coordinated campaign".
In a video, Chadha dismissed claims that he did not join opposition walkouts, terming the charge a "blatant lie".
He challenged his detractors to cite even a single instance where he failed to participate and said parliamentary proceedings are recorded through CCTV cameras.
Refuting another allegation that he refused to sign a motion related to the Chief Election Commissioner, Chadha said no party leader had asked him, either formally or informally, to sign it. He added that several other MPs from his party had also not signed the motion.
The MP said his focus in Parliament has been on raising public issues such as GST, income tax, air pollution in Delhi, water concerns in Punjab, public healthcare, education, railway passenger issues, menstrual health, unemployment and inflation.
Chadha said that he goes to Parliament to "create impact not ruckus" as it runs on taxpayers' money and it is his responsibility to highlight their concerns. "Every lie will be exposed," he said.
