Union Minister Amit Shah, while introducing the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday, 9 December, said that the Bill is not against the minorities, as is being said by some, and is, in fact, against infiltrators.
Introducing the Bill, Shah said that if any Muslim individual applies for the same, it will be considered with an open mind. "Grounds of religious persecution is out of question, because all three countries have Muslims as Majority," he said.
He further said that this Bill is necessary because the Congress divided the country on the basis of religion after independence.
“Had the Congress party not allowed the Partition of this country on the basis of religion, this Bill wouldn’t have been needed.”Amit Shah, Union Home Minister
Shah said that the Bill aims to provide citizenship to religiously persecuted minorities who have come to India. He said that the Bill does not take away any rights from Muslims, contrary to the popular belief.
However, he said that in the three countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh), religious atrocities happen mostly against Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists, Jains and other minorities.
“If any Muslim from these three (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh) nations applies for citizenship according to our law, then we will consider it, but the person won’t get benefit of this amendment as the person has not faced religious persecution.”Amit Shah, Union Home Minister
Further, he said that during partition, refugees were exchanged.
“The Nehru-Liaquat Pact happened in 1950 in which both countries promised to take care of its minorities.”Amit Shah, Union Home Minister
Shah further focused on the importance of looking into the constitution of these countries to understand the Bill.
"Like Article 2 states in The Constitution of Afghanistan that Islam is the religion of the country. There are similar provisions in Constitutions of Pakistan & Bangladesh as well," he told the Lower House of the Parliament on Monday.
"Three countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, are closely related to India's ground realities. Our country shares a border of 106 km with Afghanistan. Even after 1971, minorities have been continuously persecuted in Bangladesh. The genocide hasn't stopped."
He further mentioned Indira Gandhi deciding to give citizenship to everyone who came from Bangladesh in 1971. "Why weren't people from Pakistan given Citizenship then?" Shah asked.
The Union Home Minister began his introduction by assuring the members of the house that the Bill doesn't affect the Right to Equality and nothing in the Bill that is against any Article of the Constitution of India. “The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is not even 0.001 percent against the minorities of the country,” he said.
“We will have to differentiate between intruders and refugees. Citizenship amendment bill does not discriminate against anyone and does not snatch anyone’s rights,” he added.
the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 was passed in Lok Sabha with 311 ‘Ayes’ and 80 ‘Noes’ at midnight.
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