NEW DELHI : The Lok Sabha passed the religion-centred Citizenship Amendment Bill(CAB), amid fiery scenes and heated arguments lasting 8 hours, midnight Monday.
While Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Bill with arguments described 'dangerous and unconstitutional" , members of the opposition including AM Arif sought removal of the religious parameter from the Bill. The division was negated after putting it to vote. 311 parliamentarians lend support to the Bill while 80 opposed.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owasis tore the copy of the Bill saying “Don’t include Muslims. But why do you hate Muslims so much ? What is our crime? “. This law is aimed at a 2nd partition. It is worse than Hitler’s Law, he added.
The CAB opens up citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh on grounds of religious persecution with Dec 31, 2014 as the cut-ff.
The Bill seeks to amend the definition of illegal immigrant for Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian immigrants who have lived in India without documentation. They will be granted fast-track Indian citizenship in six years, the previous eligibility being 12 years of residence. The legislation applies to those who were “forced or compelled to seek shelter in India due to persecution on the ground of religion. “
The Bill keeps Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya out of its purview while Manipur will now be covered by the inner line permit system that keeps out non-locals.
The opposition had sought removal of references to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and to make the legislation “religion-neutral”.
Interestingly Shiv Sena made a U-Turn on its alliance contour, by supporting the Bill albeit setting out several caveats and conditions.
With the passage of CAB, Rajya Sabha would be next venue for clash with margins eventually set to sway the NNDA way, given backing from BJD< AIADMK, TDP and YSR-CP..
