<span style="color: #222222;">Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 aims to confer citizenship on the religious minorities persecuted in their home countries. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Making a statement in Rajya Sabha, the Home Minister said that the Bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955 to make illegal immigrants Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha over the security situation in North Eastern states in the wake of the move, he assured that the interests of indigenous people and their cultural identity will be protected and promoted. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr Singh said the situation in the North East is peaceful today despite reports of sporadic violence yesterday. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He said there are attempts to mislead people on the bill. The Minister assured the House that the government is committed to protecting the interests of the people of North East. He said the Centre has taken several measures to implement the Assam Accord.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Earlier, the Rajya Sabha witnessed two adjournments over the Bill due to protests by Congress-led Opposition. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">They also objected to extending the sitting of the Upper House by one day, alleging that it has been done without consensus. To this, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Chair is well within its right to extend sittings of the House.</span><br />