Published 20:49 IST, December 11th 2019
MASSIVE: Two days after Lok Sabha's nod, Rajya Sabha passes Citizenship Amendment Bill
On Wednesday, the Rajya Sabha passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 (CAB) by a majority of 125-105 votes two days after the Lower House passed it.
On Wednesday, the Rajya Sabha passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 (CAB) by a majority of 125-105 votes. This comes after more than 40 MPs including P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Derek O'Brien, Sanjay Singh, Sanjay Raut, and Vaiko put forth their arguments either in favour or against the CAB. Some members including the Shiv Sena MPs walked out before the commencement of the voting process. Earlier on Monday, the Lower House of Parliament cleared the legislation with a landslide margin. Once the President gives his assent to the Bill, it will immediately come into operation.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill
The Bill seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they will not be considered as illegal migrants. Additionally, the mandatory residence period for naturalised citizenship for these communities would be reduced to 5 years. Several parties in the North East such as the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) have been vehemently opposed to this Bill. To ameliorate their concerns, the Centre has exempted a major part of the North East from the ambit of the CAB. The opposition contends that the Bill discriminates on the basis of religion, which might go against Article 14, which guarantees the right to equality.
Various stages of the Bill
The CAB was first introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 19, 2016. Thereafter, it was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) which submitted its report on January 7, 2019. While it received the assent of the Lok Sabha the very next day, the Bill remained pending in the Rajya Sabha as BJP did not have enough numbers for its passage. After the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in May 2019, the Bill automatically lapsed.
‘This was the biggest mistake’
Addressing the Rajya Sabha during the debate on the CAB, Union Home Minister Amit Shah opined that partition on the basis of religion was the “biggest mistake”. He cited this as a justification for introducing the CAB. He contended that there was no need to amend the existing law if partition had not taken place in the first place. Earlier, in the day, 44 MPs presented their point of view on the Bill.
Shah stated, “The country wasn’t just partitioned. It was partitioned on the basis of religion. This was the biggest mistake. Due to that mistake, I am present here with this Bill.”
Updated 21:10 IST, December 11th 2019