Citizenship amendment bill / CAB will be introduced in Rajya Sabha today, Congress will stage protest across the country

Zoom News : Dec 11, 2019, 11:08 AM
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will present the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday afternoon. The bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday midnight. Opposition parties and the Northeast States are opposed to the bill. Protests and arson were also held at several places in Assam and Tripura on Tuesday. The Congress will stage a nationwide strike today to protest against this bill. The party has asked its state units to protest outside the state Congress headquarters against the citizenship bill.

The bill was debated for nearly 14 hours in the Lok Sabha. It had 311 votes in favor and 80 in the opposition. Opposition parties called the bill discriminatory on the basis of religion. In response, Home Minister Amit Shah said that this bill is a document of freedom from torture and Indian Muslims have nothing to do with it. Shah said that this bill is only for the minorities who have come to India after being tortured from 3 countries and there is no Muslim minority in these countries, because the national religion there is Islam. The citizenship bill was passed from the Lok Sabha even in the last term of the Modi government, but was stuck in the Rajya Sabha due to opposition from the opposition.

Walkout is the easiest way to support Modi government: Digvijay

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijay Singh said, "It will be interesting to see how the parties who are against the ideology of the Sangh and the BJP, stand in the upper house voting on the citizenship bill." Walkout during discussion is the easiest way to support the Modi government. Nitishji and Ram Vilas ji, if you follow Lohia's principles, think a little.

Rajya Sabha Mathematics ...

More than 7 MPs in Rajya Sabha supporting majority bill

240 MP

5 vacant seats

Total Seats - 245

121 majority figure

128 MP support

110 MPs against

2 MPs stance not clear

In support:  BJP- 83, BJD-7, Anna DMK-11, JDU-6, Nominee-4, Akali Dal- 3, Shiv Sena-3, Azad and others- 11

These do not include 2 MPs from the Northeast, who have not clarified their stand. If these 2 MPs walkout during voting then the majority figure will be 120.

In protest:  Congress-46, TMC-13, SP-9, Left parties-6, DMK-5, TRS-6, BSP-4 and others-21

Motilal Vora of Congress may remain absent due to illness. If the MPs of other parties are absent, then the majority figure will be reduced. Anyway there are enough MPs in support of the bill, so the bill can be passed easily.

Understand the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Q&A…

1. When did citizenship law come, what is its present form?

Answer:  This law came in 1955. Under this, it is mandatory for any person to stay in India for at least 11 years to take Indian citizenship.

2. Can people who enter illegally under this law also get citizenship?

Answer:  People who enter illegally in India cannot get citizenship. There are provisions to send them back to their country or to be detained.

3. What amendments are the government going to make?

Answer: The  amended bill reduces the time for citizenship of minority refugees (Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians) from neighboring countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan from 11 years to 6 years. This period will be only 11 years for Muslims and citizens of other countries.

4. Why is the opposition opposing?

Answer: There  are 2 big reasons for this. First, this bill is being said to be against the basic spirit of the constitution as people of 6 religions from neighboring countries are being relaxed to give Indian citizenship but Muslims are not included in it. Secondly, the Northeast states oppose that if the citizenship bill is passed in the Parliament, giving citizenship to a large number of Hindus from Bangladesh will end the rights of the original inhabitants here. This will put a crisis on the cultural, linguistic and traditional heritage of the states.

6. What are the government's arguments in favor of this bill?

Answer: The  government says that a large number of non-Muslims in neighboring countries have suffered persecution on the basis of religion and due to this fear many minorities have taken refuge in India. Necessary facilities should be given by giving them citizenship.

7. Can non-Muslims living without documents also get citizenship?

Answer: Those  who entered India on or before 31 December 2014 without valid travel documents or their documents have expired, will also have the facility to obtain Indian citizenship. There will be a provision to deport the Muslims found without valid documents.

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