Parliament Live: Congress divided country on basis of religion, says Amit Shah in Lok Sabha

Citizenship Bill in Lok Sabha Live Updates: Out of the present 375 MPs, 296 voted in favour of its introduction and 82 against it in the Lower House. 

Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019: The Citizenship Amendment Bill has been tabled in Lok Sabha. Out of the present 375 MPs, 296 voted in favour of its introduction and 82 against it in the Lower House. The Opposition parties led by the Congress created a ruckus in Lok Sabha after Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the House. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary opposed the legislation calling it ‘regressive’, Amit Shah insisted that it was not against the minorities of India. ” I will answer all questions on the Bill. Tab House se walkout mat karna,” Amit Shah told the Opposition benches amid a huge uproar. Opposition parties such as the Congress, NCP, AIUDF, Samajwadi Party have said that they will oppose the Bill, on the other hand AIADMK an TRS have made it clear that they will back the government over it. The bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. According to the Lok Sabha’s List of Business, the Home Minister will table the bill in the afternoon to amend the six-decade-old Citizenship Act. The bill has triggered protests in northeastern states with a large section of people, organisations and opposition parties opposing the bill. They are arguing that 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. Once the bill is cleared by the Parliament, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants. The bill will grant them Indian citizenship.

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