Published 03:54 IST, February 5th 2020
TRS MP appreciates Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's letter to EU over CAA draft resolution
TRS MP appreciated Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for writing a letter to the European Union to defer the vote and resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP Nama Nageswara Rao on Tuesday appreciated Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for writing a letter to the European Union to defer the vote and resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Appreciates Speaker's move
During the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Rao said that the letter mentioned federalism and that the Central government should help a young state like Telangana to develop its efforts.
Last week, Birla wrote a letter to the Speaker of the European Union asking them to defer the resolution against the CAA. The letter was addressed to the European Parliament President David Maria Sassoli and Birla pointed out that such a resolution would set an "unhealthy precedent".
He wrote: "As members of Inter-Parliamentary Union, we should respect sovereign processes of fellow legislatures..This Act provides for granting easier citizenship to those who have been subjected to religious persecution in our immediate neighborhood. It is not aimed at taking away citizenship from anybody."
The Speaker's letter to Sassoli was written after close to 600 lawmakers in the 751-member European Parliament moved six resolutions against the CAA, saying the enactment of the law marked a dangerous shift in India's citizenship regime.
The Ministry of External Affairs had not reacted earlier to the resolutions against the CAA in the European Parliament.
The CAA was passed in the Parliament in December and ever since there have been countrywide protests against the Act, with many calling it to be discriminatory against the certain religions. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee claimed it to be against the poor.
The government has maintained one stand which is that the CAA is an internal matter of India and that it will not be entertaining intervention by any other country.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who led the debates and discussions in the Parliament, has clarified that the Act is not discriminatory at all.
(Image credits: PTI)
Updated 03:55 IST, February 5th 2020