IB Says No Security Implication If Citizenship Bill Passed; 31,300 Non-Muslim Migrants To Be ‘Immediate Beneficiaries’

An estimated 31,300 Hindus and members of other minority communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan will be the “immediate beneficiaries” if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 clears the Parliament, Intelligence Bureau (IB) has stated to the joint parliamentary committee, as per a report tabled by the latter in Parliament last week.

"As per our records, 31,313 persons belonging to minority communities have been given Long Term Visas on the basis of their claim of religious persecution in their respective countries and want Indian citizenship. Hence, these persons will be immediate beneficiaries," said IB when asked by the committee.

The Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on 8 January after the committee tabled its report but could not take it up in the Rajya Sabha.

The agency said that there is no security implication if citizenship is given under the new amendment as "all these persons are already living in the country for decades", reports Deccan Herald. Meanwhile. IB also told the panel that a section of the Bangladeshi illegal immigrants was indulging in anti-national activities.

"Some of them have come to notice for indulging in activities prejudicial to national security and their activities are monitored. In some areas, demographic change has been indicated by successive census but the inhabitants claim that they are Indian,” said IB.

The IB also mentioned that the migrants would have to prove that they came to India due to religious persecutions for citizenship. "If they had not declared so at the time of arrival in India, it would be difficult for them to make such a claim now. Any future claim will be enquired into, including through RAW, before a decision is taken," it said.

As per IB, among 31,313, a little over 25,000 are Hindus, 5,807 are Sikhs, 55 Christians and two Buddhists and Parsis each .

"From the available data, I think, it will be a small number. I feel that it is from a human angle also because they have they have left their original countries decades back. They are here, they have become citizenship-less. They cannot not get many benefits...from this country, and they cannot go back home," said then IB Director Dineshwar Sharma.