The Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution, a little past midnight on Monday after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours. The bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha with 311 members favouring it and 80 voting against it, will now be tabled in the Rajya Sabha for its nod. Several amendments brought by opposition members, including one by a Shiv Sena MP, were defeated either by voice vote or division.
According to the proposed legislation, 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 but given Indian citizenship.
Opposition leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Saugata Roy, N.K. Premchandran, Gaurav Gogoi, Shashi Tharoor and Asaduddin Owaisi opposed the introduction of the bill, saying it was violative of various provisions of the Constitution, including move to grant citizenship on the basis of religion. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said people belonging to any religion should not have any fear under the Modi government as he asserted that the bill will give relief to those minorities who have been living a painful life after facing persecution in neighbouring countries.
Religion or persecution?
The bill has sparked a heated debate. By "discriminating" on the basis of religion, does it violate Article 14 of the Constitution, which assures equality for all? Questions were raised why the bill did not include provisions for persecuted minorities like Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar—with whom India shares a border. And, what of persecuted Muslim sects like Ahmediyas and groups like Muhajirs, Balochis—a community for whom Modi had spoken out in 2016—and Pakhtuns in Pakistan, who might be Muslims in faith.
"If Indian government, through this bill, wants to give citizenship to persecuted minorities in the neighbouring countries, how can it exclude the Rohingya of Myanmar who are far more persecuted than any other group in the neighbourhood," Faizan Mustafa, constitutional law expert and vice-chancellor of NALSAR, told Al Jazeera. "Similarly, how can we exclude Ahmediyas and Shia from Pakistan and Bangladesh and Hazaras from Afghanistan."
There are also questions why there were no provisions even for Tamil Hindus from Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka. And, the opposition questioned, why was it that only the Muslim-majority states of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh find inclusion in the bill? Sri Lanka is a country still reeling under the fissures of its civil war, and Myanmar is currently facing a UN hearing for "genocide of Rohingya minorities".
In other words, what comes first with this Citizenship (Amendment) Bill—'religion' or 'persecution'?
Political debate
The legislation has left alliances and political parties fractured. While NDA allies the JD(U) and the LJP extended support to the bill, fence-sitters, including the BJD and the YSRCP also supported the bill, while suggesting that Muslims should also be included in the bill.
JD(U) national vice-president Prashant Kishor went against the party line, expressing disappointment over his party supporting the bill, holding that the legislation discriminates against people "on the basis of religion". In a tweet late in the night when the bill was put to vote and passed by the Lok Sabha with a resounding majority, Kishor sought to underscore that the bill was "incongruous with the constitution of the party, headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which swore by secularism and Gandhian ideals".
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a BJP ally, urged the government to include sects from the Muslim community, who face persecution in neighbouring countries as it will send a positive signal. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party supports the bill as it will hugely benefit Sikhs facing persecution in Pakistan. He also urged the government to include Ahmediyas and Hazaras in the ambit of the bill as they too are facing persecution in neighbouring countries.
Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi, known to be close to the BJP, asked the Centre for inclusion of Shia Muslims from Sunni-dominated countries like Pakistan. "Shias were a rare section of Muslim society, and were being oppressed by the Sunni majority, they should be protected from the persecution and excesses," he wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah, reported The Hindu.
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said the bill was aimed at making Muslims "stateless" and would lead to another partition. "The bill is against the Constitution.... It is a conspiracy to make Muslims stateless," Owaisi said during the debate in the Lower House, questioning the government as to why it had not included countries like China, which occupies parts of India and other countries. "Are you afraid of China?" he asked
Senior CPI(M) leader Md Salim on Monday alleged that the Citizensip Amendment Bill seeks to complete the "unfinished task" of the Sangh Parivar to establish "racial supremacy" in the country.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said the government was trying to create an impression that by opposing the legislation, his party was anti-Hindu. "We are opposing the bill because it is discriminatory in nature. It wreaks havoc on the very foundations of the Constitution. This is a step towards Hindu rashtra. India should maintain the essence of humanity," Chowdhury said.
Rebuttals
The ruling party claimed that religious discrimination was a canard raised by the opposition. The bill dealt specifically with religious minorities. For even the groups mentioned in the bill, there were conditions imposed. It applies only to those who were already in India on or before December 31, 2014. The basic laws of citizenship still applied, they said. There would be a background check, and there needed to be a specific time period of stay in the country before citizenship was issued. Those included in the category would have to file an affidavit on the religious discrimination they faced, said Himanta Biswa Sharma, the BJP's pointsman in the Northeast. Every other group can still apply for citizenship via the normal routes.
"Muslim population in India has increased from 9.8 per cent in 1951 to 14.8 per cent in 2011 while the Hindu population has decreased from 84 per cent in 1951 to 79 per cent in 2011," Home Minister Amit Shah said. "Whereas, the minority population in Pakistan has decreased from 23 per cent in 1947 to 3.7 per cent in 2011. Similarly minority population in Bangladesh has decreased from 22 per cent in 1947 to 7 per cent in 2011," he said, adding India does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of religion.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, reported The Indian Express, "Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan all are Islamic states, followers of Islam cannot be persecuted there on basis of religion. This bill only gives citizenship to those who are persecuted on the basis of religion in these three countries."
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said a similar legislation 'Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act' was enacted in 1950 by the then Congress government led by Jawaharlal Nehru. "Let me remind the critics of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, Nehru government had passed a similar bill in 1950 for expulsion of illegal immigrants mainly from erstwhile Pakistan (Bangladesh) and had categorically said that minorities of East Pakistan wouldn't be covered under the bill," Madhav told PTI in an interview.
Asserting that India has always kept its doors open for oppressed minorities, Madhav said,"The persecuted minorities of the neighbouring countries, which are proposed to be given citizenship in the bill, are victims of the historical decision to divide this country on religious lines. And India is duty-bound to give citizenship rights to these minorities."
-Inputs from PTI
