Left parties call for protests against CAB and NRC on Dec 19

The left parties are going to organize and hold nationwide protests on December 19 against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which was passed by the Rajya Sabha.

Also Read | Celebrations Even In Kolkata After Rajya Sabha Passes The Citizenship Amendment Bill

The left parties  (Five Left parties - CPIM, CPI, CPI(ML) L, Forward Bloc and RSP) believe that the CAB is violative of the Constitution and destroys the secular foundation of the country and will also protest simultaneously against the NRC. In a bid to identify the illegal immigrants, the Central government is planning to carry out the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise throughout India. 

The left parties have given a joint statement to a popular newspaper that they strongly oppose the bill and that it links citizenship with the religious affiliation of an individual which is the very "antithesis of secularism". The parties have also told the newspaper that the bill aims to "further sharpen the communal divide and social polarisation" in the country, which is "dangerously detrimental to the unity and integrity" of India. 

Also Read | Protests In Northeast Continue Against The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

Before the bill was passed, left leaders had held protests in the Parliament complex against the CAB.

After the CAB was passed in Lok Sabha, agitated leaders of left parties were heard sloganeering and holding placards with slogans such as 'Stop Religious discrimination in citizenship' and 'Down with Citizenship Amendment Bill' on Tuesday, December 10.

On Wednesday, December 11, few districts of Assam have been faced with the imposition of an indefinite curfew in the wake of protests after the passage of the CAB in Rajya Sabha.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill waded through the Parliament after the Rajya Sabha passed it on December 11, Wednesday. 125 members of the Upper House voted “aye” and 105 MPs voted “no” for the bill, and it was passed by the Lok Sabha earlier this week.

The Bill looks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian refugees who are fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who have entered India on or before the end of 2014.

Also Read | Dibrugarh: Northeast Bandh Continues Over The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019

(With Inputs from ANI)