While Union home minister Amit Shah introduced the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha, several leaders from the Opposition stood against the move. However, 293 members voted in favour of the Bill and 82 against it
New Delhi: The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that makes it easier for non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to get Indian citizenship was on Monday (December 9) introduced in Lok Sabha by Union home minister Amit Shah after opposition members vociferously opposed it.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 was introduced after a division with 293 members voting in favour of the Bill and 82 against it.
It took almost 90 minutes for the Bill to be introduced in the House after Shah tabled it with Opposition members including Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, TMC's Saugata Roy, DMK member TR Baalu and RSP's NK Premachandran strongly opposing its introduction. They demanded the withdrawal of the Bill.
The Bill makes Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who faced religious persecution, eligible for citizenship. It seeks to amend the Citizenship Act.
Responding to concerns of members, the home minister said that there is nothing in the Bill against the minority community. "The Bill is not even .001% against minorities of the countries.
Shah, who faced constant interruptions from opposition members, said, the Bill does not violate any provision of the Constitution.
Shah said that the Muslim community has not been named in the Bill. "The word 'Muslim' is not there," he said.
He said there was need of the Bill because the country was divided into religious lines during Congress rule.
"Who divided the country? Congress did it. We did not," he said.
The minister said that many Bills had been made based on "reasonable classification" and does not violate provisions of the Constitution.
"Religious persecution is a reasonable ground for classification. It (the Bill) does not violate Article 14 of Constitution," he said.
He said non-Muslim minorities have faced such persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Shah said opposition members should not speak on the merits of the Bill but state if the House has legislative competence to take it up.
Taking to Twitter, BJP Member of Parliament, Rajeev Chandrasekhar lashed out at the Congress stating that the opposition wants to prove that they are pro-Muslim.
is NOT anti-muslim.
It is a simply a bill that provides citizenship to RELIGIOUS MINORITIES from 3 ISLAMIC countries, where being minority is often an issue or LIFE n DEATH. wants to oppose this to only to show they are pro-muslim.? 😡 https://t.co/Yg2b9PLgSV
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