Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday introduced the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 (CAB) that seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. A division of votes to decide on introducing the bill saw 293 MPs voting in favour and 82 MPs voting against it.
The debate on the motion saw fiery speeches by MPs in Opposition who slammed the Bill’s ‘assault on our foundational values’. The debate on the contents of the Bill is expected to take place on Tuesday. Simply put, the Bill wants to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955 and provide citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian refugees.
Introducing the motion in the Lok Sabha, Amit Shah said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 is ‘not against minorities but against infiltrators’. Introducing the Bill, Shah referred to the partition of India in 1947 and said the Congress ‘divided the country on the basis of religion’ necessitating the introduction of the Bill. However, he ignored the fact that it was Pakistan which adopted a state religion while India chose to remain secular.
Opposition MPs slammed the notion of granting citizenship on the basis of religion, stating that it was violative of the Constitution. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called the Bill divisive and recited the preamble to the Constitution, asking the ruling party benches if they were uncomfortable with him reading the Constitution.
Both the Home Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla informed the House that the discussion was on whether the Bill was to be introduced and not its contents. However, Amit Shah said that he would answer all questions and asked Opposition benches not to stage a walkout during its discussion.
RSP MP, Premachandran pointed out that the Right to Religion under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution was applicable to all residents of the country, including non-citizens. “If this goes to court, this will be struck down by the court so this is beyond the legislative competence of the House,” he said.
IUML MP, PK Kunhalikutty, pointed out that the Bill excludes Muslims from being granted citizenship. On religious persecution faced by Muslims, the Minister said, “If a Muslim person (from Afghanistan, Pakistan or Bangladesh) applies for citizenship on the basis of our law, India will consider it with an open mind. However, those people will not get the benefit of this clause because they will not have suffered religious persecution. This is based on reasonable classification.” Pointing to the state religions adopted by the neighbouring countries, Amit Shah asked if Muslims would face persecution there.
MP ET Muhammad Basheer called it a dark day for India on account of a legislation that divides people into Muslims and non-Muslims. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor called the Bill an assault on the foundational values of the country. "It betrays the preamble," he remarked. He argued that the legislation should not be introduced since the House did not have the legislative competence to discuss it.
Meanwhile, the Home Minister said the proposed legislation is being brought on the basis of reasonable classifications provided under the Constitution and it does not violate any of its provisions. He said that laws had been framed to give citizenship to people on several occasions in the past, including in 1971 after the creation of Bangladesh and attacks on Indians in Uganda, by using the provision of such reasonable classifications.
MPs including Saugata Roy, Gaurav Gogoi, and Asaduddin Owaisi also opposed the introduction of the bill, saying it was violative of various provisions of the Constitution, including move to grant citizenship on the basis of religion.
(With PTI inputs)