Citizenship bill to be tabled in Lok Sabha today
New Delhi/IBNS: In what might trigger another showdown in the Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is all set to introduce the citizenship (amendment) bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The draft legislation proposes Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from Muslim major neighbouring nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The bill proposes to gives Indian citizenship to people belonging to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christian communities if they entered India from the three nations on or before December 31, 2014.
North-eastern student organisations, civil society groups and opposition parties have been opposing the government over their move.
The Union Cabinet had cleared the bill last week.
Left leader Sitaram Yechury reacted against the Bill and tweeted: "Our two amendments to the RSS/BJP’s divisive Citizens Amendment Bill on neighbouring countries and religions: India is equally, a home for all religions. Why just three neighbouring countries in the bill? People of all religions must get equal treatment. #NoDiscrimination."
Our two amendments to the RSS/BJP’s divisive Citizens Amendment Bill on neighbouring countries and religions: India is equally, a home for all religions. Why just three neighbouring countries in the bill? People of all religions must get equal treatment. #NoDiscrimination pic.twitter.com/J0bkZiZeZf
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) December 8, 2019
While various organizations, students, civil society groups of Assam have come together to the streets to stage protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill across the state, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal criticized the agitators and said they could not change the future of Assam through demonstration.
Sonowal said: “You (agitators) should try to learn lessons from the previous movements, agitations. Without work culture, no community can show their superiority at the world stage. Ethnic selfishness is not protected by staging agitation on the streets.”
On the other hand, Assam Finance minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma also criticized the ongoing movement against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and challenged the agitators to stage protest against those who encroached the lands of various religious places of the state, involved in various crimes.
“Will we stage protest against the 5 lakh people who came into Assam by taking shelter as threats upon their lives or will stage protest against those people who raped our sisters, encroached our religious places lands. The people of Assam will have to decide it,” Himanta said.
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