Rajya Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday. (File)
CAB Debate 2019 HIGHLIGHTS: After a day-long debate, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with 125 members voting in favour of the motion and 105 against it. Union Home Minister Amit Shah tabled the contentious Bill in the Upper House, which was cleared by the Lok Sabha with a 311-80 margin at 12.02 am Tuesday. He also sought to quell the Opposition’s allegations which called the Bill anti-Muslim, saying that the Bill will have no implications on Indian Muslims.
Calling it a dark day in the Constitutional history of India, Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi said, “The passage of the CAB marks the victory of narrow-minded and bigoted forces over India’s pluralism. The Bill fundamentally challenges the idea of India.”
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, in reply to Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that no Muslim needs to worry over Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019, said that no Indian Muslim is scared of the current regime. “You made a very objectionable statement earlier. Which Muslim fears you? No Indian Muslim fears from you. Neither I nor any other citizen of the country is scared of you. We fear only from the Constitution of the country,” he said.
Speaking for the first time in the Parliament after coming out of Tihar Jail, Congress leader P Chidambaram Wednesday slammed the government in Rajya Sabha for pushing the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 (CAB) in order to further its ‘Hindutva’ agenda. He also said the Parliamentarians, who are the elected representatives of the job, are burdening the other three pillars of the Constitution by going ahead with this Bill.
Parliament Winter Session 2019 HIGHLIGHTS: Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu conducts proceedings of the House during the Winter Session of Parliament in New Delhi. (RSTV/PTI)
As the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 passes in the Parliament, the dreams of crores of deprived and victimised people has come true today. Grateful to PM Narendra Modi ji for his resolve to ensure dignity and safety for these affected people. I thank everyone for their support.
PM Modi: A landmark day for India and our nation’s ethos of compassion and brotherhood! Glad that the #CAB2019 has been passed in the #RajyaSabha. Gratitude to all the MPs who voted in favour of the Bill. This Bill will alleviate the suffering of many who faced persecution for years.
P Chidambaram, Congress: Shiv Sena not voting for the Bill after voting for it in Lok Sabha, is a welcome development. (ANI)
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on CAB: Today marks a dark day in the Constitutional history of India. The passage of the CAB marks the victory of narrow minded and bigoted forces over India's pluralism. The Bill fundamentally challenges the idea of India.
Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 was passed in Rajya Sabha by 125 ayes to 105 noes.
Shiv Sena MPs are not present in the Rajya Sabha. Voting for the amendments to Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 are currently underway in the House.
Rajya Sabha votes against sending CAB to the select committee. Final vote count on sending citizenship amendment bill to select committee comes to 124 against, 99 in favour after considering paper votes.
In Rajya Sabha, voting on sending Citizenship bill to select committee to begin.
Amit Shah on CAB in Rajya Sabha: Pakistan PM's comment and Congress' comment - both are alike. Why are you rattled when I talk about Pakistan?
Amit Shah on CAB in Rajya Sabha: Neither CAB is anti-Muslim, nor abrogation of Article 370 is anti-Muslim, Triple Talaq Bill is not anti-Muslim either. Triple Talaq is the Bill to give rights to crores of Muslim women in the country.
Amit Shah on Sri Lankan Tamils in Rajya Sabha: Sikkim will continue to enjoy rights under Article 371F, no dilution.
Amit Shah on Shiv Sena's changed stand on CAB: "I am surprised how people change colours for the greed of power. In Lok Sabha, Shiv Sena supported this bill but now not only me, but the people of Maharashtra also want to know what happened overnight that they have changed their stand."
Amit Shah on Citizenship bill in Rajya Sabha: The spirit of Liaquat–Nehru Pact, was not followed by the neighbouring country. It is the duty of every government to follow it in letter and spirit.
Amit Shah: 13,000 Hindus, Sikhs migrants from Pakistan given relief and citizenship during Congress rule.
Equality guaranteed in Article 14 does not prohibit law based on reasonable classification, says Home Minister Amit Shah defending Citizenship Bill.
Amit Shah on Citizenship bill in Rajya Sabha: 'There is no appreciation of the fact people from 6 religions have been included. But, the focus is only on why Muslims are not included.'
'Kapil Sibal was saying that no Indian Muslim is scared of us. But when did I say that they need to fear in the first place? They should not worry about #CAB as it does not affect them.'
Amit Shah on Citizenship bill in Rajya Sabha: "We do not need to divert the attention of the people. We brought this Bill in 2015, this bill was passed in Lok Sabha, went to JPC and then was stalled in Rajya Sabha."
Replying to Ghulam Nabi's Azad's statement that the government is trying to divert the attention of the country through CAB, Shah said.,"Hum chunavi rajneeti apne dum par ladte hain, apne neta ki popularity par ladte hain aur jeet te hain (We fight the electoral politics on our own might, on our leader's popularity and win them)."
"But when it comes to the solution of country's problems, we believe it is the responsibility of the government and we do it as well."
Amit Shah on Citizenship bill in Rajya Sabha: If partition had not taken place, then there would have been no need to bring this bill. If this bill was brought 50 years ago, then the situation had not been so severe today.
Home Minister Amit Shah is replying to questions of Parliamentarians in Rajya Sabha.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress: "Muslim women made to stand in a queue and were shot in Afghanistan for not wearing burqa. Was this not persectution?"
"The Home Ministry says it does not have the number of people facing persecution in neighbouring countries. You don't have the statistics and the home minister is saying from last 3 days that crores of people are facing persecution."
"In assam's dibrugarh, why the army march is taking place, why tear gas and shells are being used on people? Why the buses in Guwahati are being burned? If these states are protesting, then how come you are saying this Bill is acceptable to the people?"
K K Ragesh, CPI(M) on Citizenship bill in Rajya Sabha: The home minister was saying the Bill is for persecuted minorities in neighbouring countries. Why do they not cover Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, Tamils in Sri Lanka and Ahmedis in Pakistan?
"The government wants to hide its insidious agenda of Hindu Rashtra by dividing this society in the name of religion."
Those who intentionally abuse their parents or senior citizens under their care and protection or abandon them may be sentenced to six months' imprisonment or slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000 or both, according to a bill introduced in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019, piloted by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot in the House, also has provisions for the elderly to claim maintenance and for mandatory registration of senior citizens care homes and other such institutions which will have to comply with prescribed minimum standards. (PTI)
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BJP's Subramanian Swamy: "Congress seems confused between CAB and NRC and have misled the House in some way."
"If you look at the percentage of Hindus and Sikhs and other non-Muslim religion in 1952 in Pakistan, we see a large decline in their population. Same thing is in Bangladesh. We see news about their persecution on a daily basis."
Opposing the Citizenship bill, JD(S) calls for sending the Bil to the select committee.
YSRCP, V Vijaysai Reddy on CAB: We support this Bill. We believe in giving citizenship to those people who face persecution in their country and live in inhumane conditions. However, the government should consider giving citizenship to those minorities among the Muslim community such as Boras and Ahmedis and face persecution in their country.
Sanjay Singh, AAP in Rajya Sabha, on Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019: I am opposing this Bill as it is against the Constitution made by Baba Saheb Ambedkar. It is against the Preamble of the Constitution. It is against the India of the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh.
An FIR has been registered against 20 students of the Aligarh Muslim University in connection with their protest against Citizenship Amendment Bill, and security has been beefed up in the campus, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Rapid Action Force has been deployed at the entry points to the University campus, where an uneasy calm prevailed.
The police on Tuesday night filed a report against 20 student leaders and 500 other unnamed persons for defying prohibitory orders under Section 144 and holding a protest near Faiz Gate in the campus.
AMU student leaders said that their protests are "totally peaceful" and it is their "democratic right" to raise a voice against the Bill which is not just against the letter and spirit of the Constitution but is designed to polarise Indian people on communal lines and divide the country. (PTI)
Vaiko, MDMK in Rajya Sabha on Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019: If this obnoxious, abominable, undemocratic, unreasonable, unpardonable, unjustifiable, unconstitutional Bill is passed today in this Council of State, it will become a black chapter in the annals of this Upper House.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Amit Shah's statement that the Muslims should not be worried in the country: You are trying to decide who is going to stay in the country and who is not based on a person's name. (To Amit Shah) You made a very objectionable statement earlier. Which Muslim fears you? No Indian Muslim fears from you. Neither I nor any other citizen of the country is scared of you. We fear only from the Constitution of the country.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Home Minister Amit Shah's statement "CAB wouldn't have been needed if Congress hadn't allowed partition on basis of religion": "I don't understand which history books the home minister has read. The two-nation theory is not our theory. It was perpetrated by Savarkar. Even B R Ambedkar said that instead of being against each other, Jinnah and Savarkar were in agreement that there were two different nations based on religion."
"I request the Home Minister to withdraw that allegation because we in Congress believe in that one nation, you don't believe in that."
In a tweet, Prashant Kishore said: While supporting CAB, the JDU leadership should spare a moment for all those who reposed their faith and trust in it in 2015. We must not forget that but for the victory of 2015, the party and its managers wouldn’t have been left with much to cut any deal with anyone.
Mir M Fayaz, J&K PDP in Rajya Sabha on Citizenship Amendment Bill2019: I stand to oppose this Bill. Since this govt has come to power, the way it has brought bills like Triple Talaq and Article 370-Muslims have been targeted. This government is targeting the Muslims ever since it has come to power.
Praful Patel, NCP: We oppose this Bill. Not only Hindus, but many Muslims also came from East Pakistan to India after its partition. Therefore, it would be foolish to base this Bill on religion.
In a tweet, Kerala CM P Vijayan said, "The Citizenship Amendment Bill is an attack on the secular and democratic character of India. The move to decide citizenship on the basis of religion amounts to a rejection of the Constitution. It will only take our country backward. Our hard-fought freedom is at stake."
Manoj Kumar Jha, RJD: During JPC, it was suggested by experts that the word religion should be dropped from the bill and persecuted minority should be used in its place. It was set aside for no reason.
Addressing Home Minister Amit Shah, Jha said, "I am sitting in your opposition, but that does not make me your enemy. I beseech you in the name of const think once you might be committing a great blunder."
"A state that persecutes does not differentiate between A, B, and C. Mr. Chidambaram also said persecution is of many types, mostly on the basis of political belief. And there is no place for atheists as well.
"This bill is unintelligent different and unreasonable classification."
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena: "We don't need any certificate on our nationalism or Hindutva. The school which you study in, we are the headmaster of that. Our headmasters were Balasaheb Thackeray, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. We believe in all three of them."
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena in Rajya Sabha: We have a lot of expectations from our prime minister and home minister. But will they exclude the illegal migrants out of this country after the CAB is passed? If you are accepting the refugees then there should be no politics over that. Will they get voting rights?
P Chidambaram in Rajya Sabha: 'We have a citizenship pact in our country which recognises citizenship by birth, descent, registration, naturalisation, and by incorporation of territory. Now this govt is introducing a new category called citizenship by arbitrary executive feat.''Is it constitutional or not? What we are doing here is pushing this issue to the judiciary. Parliamentarians, who are the elected representatives of the people, are asked to do something unconstitutional and then the judiciary will decide what is constitutional or not.''This govt is ramming through this bill in order to advance its Hindutva agenda.'
TRS MP Keshava Rao: What is the fear in Assam today? The fear is that some may not remain a citizen of this nation. We agree that that persecuted religious minorities should be protected, but no community should be excluded. There is no need to have a second thought on this bill, rather this bill should be withdrawn.
SR Balasubramaniam, AIADMK: We have certain concerns but overall, we are supporting this bill.
The Congress on Wednesday accused Home Minister Amit Shah of "misleading" the country on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill and claimed that the proposed legislation was a direct attack on the Constitution, aimed at diverting the attention of the people from real issues such as the economic slowdown. The government is trying to divide the people of the country and divert attention from the problems being faced by them, Congress General Secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said.
RCP Singh, JDU in Rajya Sabha: "We support this bill. The bill is very clear, it gives citizenship to persecuted minorities from three of our neighbouring countries, but here debate is being done on our Indian Muslim brothers."
Harivansh, Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha says, "Business Advisory Committee has decided to allocate six hours to discussion on Citizenship Amendment Bill. There are 48 speakers participating in the discussion." he asked the speakers to speak keeping the time frame in mind.
Javed Ali Khan, Samajwadi Party in Rajya Sabha: Our Govt through this Citizenship Amendment Bill and NRC is trying to fulfil the dream of Jinnah. Remember, in 1949 Sardar Patel had said 'we are laying the foundation of a truly secular democracy in India'
"I implore to BJD and JDU leaders. You have to take a stand today. You will have to answer your future generations when they ask you which button did you press, " Derek Obrien said.
Derek O' Brien said, "PM Modi said the Bill will be written in golden letters. I will tell you where it will be written — It will be written on Jinnah's grave."
Derek O' Brien said, "This party (BJP) is based on three Js - Jhoot (Lies), Jhaansa (cheating) and Jumla. In the last 5 years, 2 crore people have lost their job."
Trinamool leader Derek O Brien said, "Home Minister says that there is nothing to worry about. During demonetisation, PM said give me 30 days for this to work or else burn me. But today, no one speaks of demonetisation. This government is very good at making promises, it is even better at breaking promises."
Urging the Opposition leaders to leave their political interest behind, Nadda said, "Leave your political interest behind, keep your national interest forward. There has been a concerted effort to spread lies in North East about Citizenship (Amendment) Bill...but the Home Minister has made it very clear that people of Northeast will be adequately protected. In a democracy, we should agree to disagree, not disagree to agree. Not interest to a particular party or nation."
The Opposition quoted Right to equality which is Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. But the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill has got nothing to with equality. You should come with me to Kutch, Indore border, if you will see the plight of Hindu refugees prosecuted in Pakistan, you will immediately give your consent to the Bill.
Nadda said, "The nation-builders wanted the minorities in both the countries to get protection. But the reality was very different. In Jawahar-Liyaqat Ali Pact it was decided that the minorities would be divided. We know that in 1950 when we framed the constitution we made it secular, but Pakistan made it a theocratic nation. We have documented evidence of how minorities have grown in India but the population of Pakistan's minorities have gone down significantly."
BJP working president JP Nadda is speaking now. He says, "Those minorities who have been persecuted in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan should get citizenship in India. This is the essence of the bill."
The SP and the BSP came out openly against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday, describing it as a "historical mistake" and "divisive" respectively. "BJP's step like the CAB is not historic but a historical mistake," Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said in a one-line tweet in Hindi. BSP supremo Mayawati said, "The BSP is of the view that the CAB is divisive and unconstitutional. This is why the BSP voted against it in the Lok Sabha and will do the same in the Rajya Sabha too."
Kiren Rijiju said, "First time in India's history an important bill has been brought in Parliament after discussion with voices of the northeast. Concerns of indigenous people of northeast addressed thoroughly in Bill. Protests going on in northeast, there are concerns, but those have been addressed by the government. Entire Northeast has complete protection under Citizenship Bill; we do not want the region to fall into trap of some mis-campaigning."
Anand Sharma also said, "Why is there insecurity in Assam? Why are the people protesting? The Home Minister should take a delegation to the detention centre and see the condition. There are reports that detention centres will be set up in NRC when it will be implemented on a nationwide scale...this reminds us of the concentration camps from the previous century."
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB): Home Minister has discussed and listened to the voice of the people of the northeast. The concerns of the indigenous people of the north-east region are being addressed thoroughly.
There will be no lunch break today in Rajya Sabha, as debate on Citizenship Amendment Bill is underway.
Anand Sharma said, "The citizenship act has seen amendments since 1955 but the fundamentals of this act has never been tampered with. You say we should rise above politics but I request you to not politicise this matter. Two nation theory was never brought in by Jinnah. It was introduced by Hindu Mahasabha in Gujarat in 1937."
Union Minister Jitendra Singh: The extent of neglect that northeast has suffered over half a century under Congress rule is a testimony in itself. The development that has happened in the last 5 years in the northeast, is more than what has been seen in the last 65 years.