‘Respect sovereign processes of fellow legislatures’: Om Birla on EU Parliament’s anti-CAA resolutions

“As members of Inter Parliamentary Union, we should respect sovereign processes of fellow legislatures, especially in democracies,” he said.

It is inappropriate for one legislature to pass judgement on another, a practice that can surely be misused by vested interests, Birla said.

“I would urge you to consider the proposed resolution in this light, confident that none of us want to set an unhealthy precedent,” he said

Five key groupings in the European Parliament have moved resolutions that slam the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, with two of them stating that the CAA marks a “dangerous shift” in the way citizenship will be determined and will create the “largest statelessness crisis in the world”.

Taken together, the five groupings comprise 559 members in the 751-member European Parliament. A separate grouping, which represents 66 Members of European Parliament (MEPs), has moved a sixth resolution that supports the Act but calls for an impartial probe into “excessive use of force by security forces” against anti-CAA protesters.

At least one of these resolutions is scheduled to be tabled on January 29, and another on January 30, for debate and voting.

The resolutions, which could impact the way EU member-nations engage with India, come less than two months before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to Brussels for the India-EU summit on March 13.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu also expressed concern today over the trend of foreign bodies meddling in matters within the purview of Indian Parliament and government.

Addressing a gathering during a book launch event in New Delhi, Naidu hoped that foreign bodies would refrain from making such statements in future.

“There is no scope for outside interference in India’s internal matters. Such efforts were totally uncalled for and unwarranted,” PTI quoted Naidu as saying.