It was the moment of ‘redemption’ for Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he said on Friday that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 is a ‘penance’ for the mistakes committed at the time of Partition.

Sounding the poll bugle for 2019 Lok Sabha polls at a rally in Silchar in Bengali-dominated Barak valley, Modi said he is hopeful that the Citizenship Bill, enabling citizenship to the religiously persecuted Bengali Hindus of Bangladesh, will become a reality soon.

“If the children of Ma Bharati (India) are in trouble, isn’t it the duty of India to take care of its children? Is the colour of the passport more important than the colour of blood? Don’t those separate by Partition have a connection with Ma Bharati? There were mistakes done during the Partition and this bill will correct them,” the PM said.

The announcement came hours later the Union Cabinet decided to set up a high-level panel to discuss Clause 6 of the Assam Accord providing constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to the indigenous people of the state to protect the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of Assam