At the stroke of midnight, Lok Sabha passes Citizenship Amendment Bill

The opposition says the Bill violates the Constitution.

The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) with 311 in favour and 80 against. The Bill is likely to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

In his reply to over six-hour-long debate on the Bill, Union Home Minister Amit Shah insisted that the proposed law does not discriminate against Indian Muslims but aimed at protecting continued persecution of minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. He said the Bill was a result of the failure of the 1950 Nehru-Liaquat pact. The home minister said there is a distinction between illegal immigrants and refugees.

Members of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Left parties and others disputed this, terming it divisive and that it was a ‘trap’ and inextricably linked to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise, which has ‘failed’ in Assam.

Shah said there was no linkage, and only those indulging in “vote bank politics” were thinking of it as a trap. He accused “some parties” of creating an “atmosphere of fear”. “We are very clear that we will carry out the NRC. This is not a ‘background’ for it, our manifesto is the background,” Shah said.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the Bill was a “conspiracy to make Muslims stateless”, and ripped a copy of the Bill to highlight his protest. Members from the treasury benches said Owaisi had insulted Parliament.

Opposition members said the Bill violated the Constitution, especially equality before law enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution. The Congress resolved to move the Supreme Court once Parliament passes the Bill. Trinamool’s Abhishek Banerjee said the West Bengal government would not allow NRC in the state.

Shah disagreed that it was uncosntitutional, pointing out that the Bill would grant citizenship to “persecuted minorities” in theocratic states of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

Business Standard