Over 900 scientists and scholars issue statement demanding the government withdraw CAB

With Lok Sabha approving to table the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 with 293 votes in favour of the bill and 82 votes against it, over 964 scholars and Scientists from various renowned universities including IITs and the University of Delhi issued a statement against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019.

The Community of scientists and scholars have expressed their concerns and regrets over how the bill uses religion as a legal criterion for determining legal citizenship.

The statement read, "We understand that the Bill seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The stated intent of the Bill is to provide refuge to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries. While we support this laudable objective, we find it deeply troubling that the Bill uses religion as a legal criterion for determining Indian citizenship."

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Scientists and scholars demand the government to withdraw CAB

The scholars also spoke about the idea of India and how according to the Constitution India is a country that aspires to treat people of all faiths equally. Adding to their statement further, the community has also explained that they fear the use of religion as a criteria citizenship in the proposed CAB bill and the careful exclusion of Muslims from the bill will strain the pluralistic fabric of the country. 

It read, "The use of religion as a criterion for citizenship in the proposed bill would mark a radical break with this history and would be inconsistent with the basic structure of the constitution. We fear, in particular, that the careful exclusion of Muslims from the ambit of the Bill will greatly strain the pluralistic fabric of the country." 

The scientists also quoted Article 14 of the Constitution which prohibits the State from denying “to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” At the end of the statement, they demanded the government to immediately withdraw the bill and also asked the Centre to form appropriate legislation that will address the concerns of refugees and minorities in a non-discriminatory manner.

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What is Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019?

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Through this bill, Indian citizenship will be provided to the members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from the three countries to India till December 31, 2014, to put an end to them being treated as illegal immigrants in the country. The Bill was passed by the Lower House of the Parliament earlier this year but lapsed with the term of the previous Lok Sabha during the first term of the PM Narendra Modi government in the Centre.

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