Centre will not touch Article 371, says Amit Shah in Assam

Guwahati: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the Centre will not touch Article 371 which grants special provisions to the North East.

Article 370 was clearly temporary in nature but Article 371 is about special provisions in the North East and there is a vast difference between the two, Shah said while addressing the 68th plenary session of the North East Council here.

“After the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, there were attempts to misinform and misguide the people of North East that Article 371 would also be scrapped by the Centre,” he said.

“I have clarified in Parliament that this is not going to happen and I am saying it again today in the presence of eight chief ministers of North East that the Centre will not touch Article 371,” Shah added.

Shah also reiterated that no “illegal migrant” will be allowed to stay in the country and that the NRC exercise in Assam was completed in “time-bound manner”.

“Various people have raised all kinds of questions on the National Register of Citizens (NRC). I want to clearly say that not a single illegal migrant will be allowed to stay in the country by the Government of India. That is our commitment”, the Union Home Minister asserted.