Reacting to the passing of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill by Parliament on Wednesday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi described it a "dark day" in the Constitutional history of India and said it marked the victory of "narrow-minded and bigoted forces" over India's pluralism.
"The bill fundamentally challenges the idea of India that our forefathers fought for and, in its place, creates a disturbed, distorted and divided India where religion will become a determinant of nationhood," Gandhi said in a statement.
She said CAB is not just an affront to the eternal principles of equality and religious non-discrimination that have been enshrined in the Indian Constitution, but represents rejection of an India that would be a free nation for all her people, irrespective of religion, region, caste, creed, language or ethnicity.
"In its design, its grave implications, this flawed legislation is antithetical to the spirit of the freedom movement and violative of the soul of our nation," said the Congress chief.
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The Congress has come out in strong opposition to CAB, voting against the controversial bill in Parliament and holding protests against it across the country.
Gandhi said India has historically offered refuge and protection to the persecuted of all nations and of all faiths. "We are a proud nation that has never been broken by the insecurity of a few, for we have always stood firm with the knowledge that free India can only remain free if her people are liberated, if her voices are heard, and if our institutions, our governments and our political forces dedicate themselves to securing the inalienable rights of the citizens of this country," she said.
She noted that it is ironic that the bill has been pushed through at a time when the country is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of M.K. Gandhi.
Gandhi stressed that the Congress will be relentless in its struggle against the "BJP’s dangerously divisive and polarising agenda."
