Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Friday accused the BJP-led NDA central government at the Centre of trying to legalise immigrants by proposing to amend the Citizenship Act.
“On one hand they wanted to push illegal immigrants, but on the other, they wanted to legalise immigrants by amending the Citizenship Act. This is not acceptable to the people of Assam, Meghalaya and the Northeast,” he told journalists after chairing a Cabinet meeting.
“If this Act is amended, the whole fallout will be on the Northeast. Do you think those immigrants from Bangladesh will go to Punjab, Kerala or Rajasthan? They will look at the Northeast as their destination,” Sangma said.
He said that the government has instructed all Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of the state districts bordering Assam to take all necessary measures to address the issue following the publication of first draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.
He said steps were being taken according to mandate of the law including the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act, 2016 that has been passed by the state Assembly as part of the comprehensive mechanisms to check influx and illegal immigrants.