CAB Has Endorsement Of India's 130 Crore Citizens: Amit Shah | 10 Points

New Delhi:

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they faced religious persecution there, was passed in the Lok Sabha by 311-80 votes on Monday night, after more than seven hours of debate and discussions.

The Union government is confident of its passage in the Rajya Sabha as well with the support of several non-aligned regional parties which have often joined the treasury benches in the past. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed in the Lok Sabha with 311 members favouring it and 80 voting against it.

Several amendments brought by opposition members, including one by Shiv Sena MP, were defeated either by voice vote or by a division.

According to the proposed legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be given Indian citizenship.

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 in Lok Sabha | 10 Points  

1. Amit Shah said the bill seeks to give Indian nationality to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who are facing religious persecution there.
2. The home minister said laws were 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 reasonable classifications. "This bill is not even .001 per cent against minorities. It is against infiltrators," he said.
3. Opposition leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Saugata Roy, N K Premchandran, Gaurav Gogoi, Shashi Tharoor, Assaduddin Owaisi opposed the introduction of the bill, saying it was violative of various provisions of the Constitution, including move to grant citizenship on the basis on religion.
4. Nationalist Congress Party chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is "anti-Constitutional" and the BJP-led Union government is pushing it only for political benefits. "We are going to oppose the CAB in Parliament," Malik said.
5. The bill was introduced after a division of votes for which 293 MPs voted in favour and 82 voted against.
6. Trying to allay apprehensions of the people of Northeastern region, Shah said the Narendra Modi government was committed to protect the customs and culture of the people of the region and informed that Manipur will be brought under Inner Line Permit regime.
7. "Citizenship amendment bill has the endorsement of 130 crore citizens of the country as it was the part of the BJP manifesto in 2014 as well as 2019 Lok Sabha elections," he said, initiating the debate on the contentious bill.
8. "We will have to differentiate between intruders and refugees. Citizenship amendment bill does not discriminate against anyone and does not snatch anyone's rights," he said.
9. Congress MP Manish Tewari said: “Today, the Home Minister said that the Congress is responsible for partition on basis of religion. I want to make it clear that the foundation for two nation theory was laid in 1935 in Ahmedabad by Savarkar in a Hindu Mahasabha session, and not the Congress."
10. Government needs to have clear policy on rehabilitation, says Shiv Sena’s Vinayak Raut. While Naveen Patnaik's BJD supported the Bill, the Bahujan Samaj Party opposed it. JDU MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh said: "We support this bill. This bill should not been seen in light of Indian citizens,both majority and minority. If persecuted minorities of Pakistan are given Indian citizenship then I think this is the right thing."

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