Jaaved Jaaferi enters CAB debate with double-meaning PJ; draws mixed responses

The Lok Sabha, on Monday, passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill or CAB, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there. The Bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha with 311 members favouring it and 80 voting against it, is being tabled in the Rajya Sabha for its nod, on Wednesday.

Amidst the ongoing debate over Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha, Bollywood actor Jaaved Jaaferi took to his Twitter handle to make an analogy between the bill and CAB drivers. The actor wrote, "Isn’t the CAB driver supposed to go where the passengers want and not where he wants ?? #justasking" [sic]. The tweet implied CAB driver being the Modi government and passengers being the citizens of the country.

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Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019

After the conclusion of a 7-hour-long debate, which saw the participation of 38 MPs from across the political spectrum, the Lok Sabha on Monday midnight passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 with 311 votes in favor and 80 against the Bill. Opposition leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Saugata Roy, N K Premchandran, Gaurav Gogoi, Shashi Tharoor, and Assaduddin Owaisi opposed the introduction of the bill in the Lok Sabha. Citizenship (Amendment Bill) seeks to give citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution there, saying it was violative of various provisions of the Constitution, including a move to grant citizenship on the basis of religion.

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The tabling of the emotive Citizenship (Amendment) Bill  comes even as there were protests and incidents of violence in Northeastern states with most of the student unions and regional political parties opposing it, saying it will nullify the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985, which fixed March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for deportation of all illegal immigrants irrespective of religion. The BJP-led NDA government had introduced the bill in its previous tenure and got Lok Sabha's approval. But it did not introduce it in Rajya Sabha, apparently due to vehement protests in the Northeast and lack of majority in the House.

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(WITH PTI INPUTS)