NEW DELHI : MP AM Arif denied rumours of his quiet during fiery debate on the Citizenship Amendment Bill(CAB) in the Lok Sabha on Monday. “I was at the House all day and put forth important suggestions to prevent the Bill from happening. A few parliamentarians from Kerala joined me to serve notice, aimed to block the Bill. The speaker initially refused to allow me speak saying the notice had nothing specific against the Bill’” Arif said.
“There were clear-cut reasons mentioned in the Notice and we persuaded the Speaker to see this," Arif continued. Upon realizing, the Speaker allowed CPI(M) time to put in views and MP Venkateshan voiced his opposition well beyond the allotted timeslot, the MP added.
In my turn, I opposed the Bill on several counts and laid bare BJP’s hidden communal agenda in the amendment. We voted against the amendment. however, they(NDA) managed to pass the Bill with sufficient margin, Arif said.
Moving forward, we plan to plea the court against Bill. It runs against the constitution and people across the communities shall be organized for demonstrations, seeking to preserve the democratic and secular values of the constitution, Arif added.
Certain posts on social media suggested I was absent when the Bill was originally introduced. Cyber Muslim League activists reportedly propagated the news. I am happy they take note of me, the parliamentarian said.
