New Delhi:
The disgruntled NDA ally Shiv Sena, who has been at loggerheads with the BJP for quite some time over several issues, has once again come up against the saffron party. This this the issue is the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Senior Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut on Monday warned the BJP that the Citizenship Amendment Bill would change the demography of Assam and may create the conditions for the civil war. Raut said that his party, which supported the Opposition’s demand for the JPC probe into Rafale deal, will also oppose the bill as it was not just a Hindu-Muslim thing.
“We're also opposing Citizenship Amendment Bill, Asom Gana Parishad leaders met Uddhav ji and explained everything. It's not just Hindu-Muslim thing, Assam has its own culture and demography and this Bill would change that which may again create conditions for civil war,” ANI quoted Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut as saying.
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The final report of the joint parliamentary committee on the Citizenship Amendment Bill will be tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The bill seeks to make minority (or non-Muslim) immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan eligible for the citizenship.
The Opposition parties expressed their disagreement saying that linking of religion to citizenship wasn’t a good idea and raised objections about the functioning of the committee. However, all amendments moved by the opposition in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), headed by BJP MP Rajendra Agrawal, of the Bill were defeated on December 31, 2018.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014.
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While addressing a rally at Silchar on January 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, will be passed as soon as possible in Parliament as a penance for past injustices.
(With inputs from PTI)
