The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 passed the test of the Parliament after it cleared both the Houses with a comfortable majority.
Rajya Sabha Speaker Venkaiah Naidu had allotted 6 hours for CAB debate in Rajya Sabha. There were 48 speakers participating in the discussion.
Introduction of a 'Historic Bill'
While introducing the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah had said, “Muslims in India don’t need to fear about the Bill but Muslim refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh cannot be given citizenship in India.”
“Provision of this historic bill is to give hope to crores of people who have been suffering,” said Shah.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal slammed the Bill calling it ‘historic’ because they were “changing the foundation of the Constitution”.
"The two-nation theory was propagated by Savarkar, not by us. It would be fulfilled today with the passing of this Bill," Sibal said.
'Discriminatory' Bill
“This Bill gives provision for the people of Pakistan, Bangladesh & Afghanistan to gain citizenship.”Amit Shah, Home Minister
Congress Leader P Chidambaram said that in discussing the issue, they were pushing the issue to the lap of the judges.
Chidambaram questioned why and how the three countries Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh had been chosen and why Sri Lankan Hindus and Bhutanese Christians had been excluded.
"This government is ramming through this Bill in order to advance its Hindutva agenda. This is a sad day,” Chidambaram said.
CAB Is 'Immoral' & 'Unconstitutional'
Amit Shah said, “‘providing citizenship to crores of people...PM Modi is giving life to many."
RJD's Manoj Jha said that more than religious grounds, persecution takes place based on political beliefs.
He also said that the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill would make India go the Israel way.
“This Bill is morally and constitutionally bad. NRC and CAB are not very different. The Bill is trying to cover your mistakes.”Manoj Jha, Leader, RJD
'Anti-Muslim' Citizenship Bill
The Home Minister defended the bill saying, “The Bill is not against the Muslims of the country. Muslims do not have to fret.”
Opposing the Bill, Congress MP Kapil Sibal asked Shah to withdraw his comment that the Congress partitioned the country along religious lines. He also said the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is “targeting a community without naming it.”
“Motives of BJP are clear, you are crushing the Constitution... you wish to differentiate people by their religion.”Kapil Sibal, Leader, Congress
Taking a jibe at Shah, Sibal said, “No Muslim is scared of the BJP. They only fear the Constitution.”
Shiv Sena MPs boycotted the voting on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha.
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