CAB unconstitutional, divisive: Congress
New Delhi: The Shiv Sena, which voted in favour of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha, opposed it in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, saying the draft law should have been debated on the basis of “humanity not religion”.
The Sena does not need to prove how “staunch Hindu” and “patriotic” the party is, Sanjay Raut said while participating in a debate on the Bill in the Upper House.
“We should discuss this Bill based on humanity not on religion. There is a difference between intruders and refugees,” said Raut, whose party is a former ally of the BJP.
The Sena recently formed government in Maharashtra along with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The Bill, which is being debated in Rajya Sabha, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution there.
Throwing intruders out of the country has been a commitment of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and it was promised during election rallies also, Raut said.
He said there should not be any “vote-bank politics” while giving citizenship to non-Muslim minorities under the Bill and added that there will be “some balance” if voting rights are not given to them for 25 years. The Sena member also attacked some MPs who said on Tuesday that those opposing the Bill were “traitors” and “speaking the language of Pakistan”. Opposition parties led by the Congress in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday described the Citizenship Amendment Bill as unconstitutional, alleging it discriminates against refugees on the basis of religion, and cautioned the government that the proposed legislation would not stand judicial scrutiny.
Initiating the debate on the Bill, Congress leader Anand Sharma attacked the BJP saying the manifesto of any political party cannot be above the Constitution of India. The ruling BJP has claimed that it had won “mandate” on the basis of its manifesto which clearly talked about the amendments to the citizenship law.
Opposing the Bill, Sharma said the proposed legislation moved by Home Minister Amit Shah is “divisive”, “discriminatory” and against the fundamentals of the Indian Constitution. Sharma, a former Union Minister, said that though the Bill was part of the 2019 manifesto of the BJP, it cannot override the principles of the Indian Constitution.
“Every political party has right to have its own manifesto. But the manifesto of any political party cannot be above the Constitution of this country,” the Deputy Leader of Opposition said. (PTI)