“Two nation theory was never brought in by Jinnah and it was introduced by Hindu Mahasabha in Gujarat in 1937,” Anand Sharma said
New Delhi: After debating for seven-hour in Lok Sabha, passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday. The Bill is tabled in the Rajya Sabha today. While the BJP had the clear majority in Lok Sabha, whereas in Rajya Sabha, it looks difficult as the party has the support of 108 MPs.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday tabled the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Rajya Sabha, said the legislation provides hopes for lakhs of people who are living with no permanent residency in India. “This bill will provide the mistreated a chance to provide for their families. People of the country have supported the legislation,”.
Attacking the government, Congress MP Anand Sharma said that “The bill that government has brought is an assault on the very foundation of the Indian constitution, on the Republic of India. It hurts the soul of India. It is against our constitution and democracy. It fails the morality test.
“Minorities from Bangladesh and Pakistan have migrated to india…the ones who stayed back have faced persecution or have been converted,” Amit Shah said.
Amit Shah also added people are accusing us that we are exercising vote bank politics with the introduction of this bill. But I want to point out that we had brought forward this bill before 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The concerns of North East India will be addressed.
He said “A rumor is being spread that the bill is against the minorities. The Muslims living in India don’t have to worry about the bill. Do you want me to give the citizenship to Muslims coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh? It can’t work like this,”.
Amit Shah said the Citizenship Amendment Bill has provisions for the mistreated religious minorities and it also has provisions for helping people from Northeast India to preserve their culture.
Amit Shah said that in 1985, the Assam accord happened. There is a provision in clause 6 to protect the indigenous culture of the state. I want to assure that NDA Government through the committee to supervise clause 6 will protect the rights of Assam. All Assam Students’ Union is part of the committee.
Congress MP Anand Sharma said Why the urgency with the CAB. Our party opposes this. The reason for opposition is not political but ideology. Assault on the foundation of the constitution.
“We have given shelter to people who came over from Pakistan post-partition and two of them have been our PMs Dr. Manmohan Singh and IK Gujral,” Anand Sharma said.
“The citizenship act has seen amendments since 1955 but the fundamentals of this act have never been tampered with…You say we should rise above politics…but I request you to not politicize this matter,” he said.
“Two nation theory was never brought in by Jinnah and it was introduced by Hindu Mahasabha in Gujarat in 1937,” Anand Sharma said.
Sharma said Why are you not talking about the involvement of the British? it was they who empowered the Muslim League. British banned congress while they allowed the Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha to push for two nations
Congress MP said Whenever there have been amendments, religion has never been made a basis… Article 14 ensures equality before the law. The bill of government fails the constitutionality test.
Anand Sharma raised the question and said “Why is there insecurity in Assam? Why are the people protesting? The Home Minister should take a delegation to the detention center and see the condition. There are reports that detention centers will be set up in NRC when it will be implemented on a nationwide scale…this reminds us of the concentration camps from the past century,”.
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