The government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is working on a draft law to strip the citizenship of those found guilty of sedition or deemed harmful to the state, Home Ministry sources said yesterday. A six-member inter-ministerial committee has been assigned to scrutinize the draft bill, prepared by the Law Commission, the sources said. The commission is headed by Justice Mostafa Kamal, a former chief justice, and has Justice Mohammed Sirajul Haque and M. Enamul Haque as members. After scrutiny, the bill will be placed before the Cabinet for its approval and if approved it will then be placed before Parliament, the sources said. After its passage, the government, unlike other countries, will enjoy authority to cancel the citizenship of those found guilty of sedition or deemed harmful to the security and sovereignty of the state, the sources said.
Citizenship issues are now dealt with under a law titled the Bangladesh Citizenship (Temporary) Order 1972 (President's Order), amended twice in 1973 and 1978. The President's Order was enacted on the basis of the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951. None of the laws gives the government authority, which the bill proposes, to revoke the citizenship of anyone on the grounds of sedition or for being harmful to the state. |