Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar appeals for peace in Northeast India

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar on Sunday said that people in the North-Eastern states should put forward their concerns on Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) peacefully without causing loss to life and property.

"I would like to appeal to all people (in North-eastern states protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act) that they must put forward their concerns peacefully without causing loss to life and property. Sri Lankan Tamil refugees should also get the citizenship of the country," Sri Sri Ravishankar told ANI.

Protests erupted in several parts of Northeast following the passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

However, the Act will not apply to areas covered under "The Inner Line" notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873.

"Nothing in this section shall apply to the tribal area of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and the area covered under "The Inner Line" notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873," read a Gazette notification.