(ET)
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which provides a path to Indian citizenship for persons belonging to religious minority groups persecuted in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, was passed by Parliament on Wednesday, with the Rajya Sabha voting 125-99 in favour of the Bill.
The passage came amidst largescale protests in Assam, where the military had to be called in to control protesting crowds, despite assurances from the Centre that special measures will be taken under clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord to address Assamese concerns. The Lok Sabha had approved the Bill by a significant majority on Monday.
During the debate in the Upper House, home minister Amit Shah emphasised that the Bill was not aimed at alienating Indian Muslims and remarks by some parties that their citizenship will be affected is completely false. “The citizenship of Muslims of India has no connection with this Bill. This is a Bill meant to grant citizenship, not take it (away),” ,” said Shah.
