Will create invisible Hindu-Muslim partition: Sena attacks Citizenship Bill
According to Shiv Sena, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will create an "invisible partition" between Hindus and Muslims in the country. The Hindu nationalist party revealed its thoughts on the controversial Bill in its mouthpiece Saamana, and asked whether the intention was to create a "vote bank". Here's more.
Context: Bill has been tabled in the Parliament
A short while ago, Shah tabled the Bill in the Lower House. The Bill seeks to provide Indian citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the protesters in Northeast believe the Bill violates Assam accord and has the potential of changing demographics of the region.
In Saamana, Sena spoke about a probable religious war
Several opposition parties have termed the Bill bigoted and are prepared to stall its passage in the Lower House. Joining them, Sena, a former ally of BJP, in its mouthpiece Saamana, wondered whether selectively accepting Hindus from neighboring countries would start a "religious war". Uddhav Thackeray's party also accused Centre of trying to forge an "invisible partition" between Hindus and Muslims.
Are India's problems over, Sena asked BJP
Questioning the timing of the Bill, Sena said, "There is no dearth of problems in India now but still we are inviting new ones such as CAB." The editorial added, "It is true that there is no other country for Hindus except Hindustan. But by accepting only Hindus among the illegal immigrants...will it be a trigger of a religious war in the country?"
Sena also wondered how will lakhs be accommodated
Sena also said that the exact number of illegal immigrants must be known. "If it is in lakhs then where are they going to be settled in India?" Sena questioned. Saying that "illegal immigrants" are already a problem in Maharashtra, it urged states like Gujarat and Karnataka (both governed by BJP) to play "humanitarian roles" and accommodate these people.
Meanwhile, Sena suggested putting a cap on voting rights
Furthermore, Sena also reminded that people of Northeast are against the Bill, and so is the Bihar government, where BJP is in power with JD(U). It also suggested that "new citizens" shouldn't be given voting rights until 25 years of age. In fact, Sena pleaded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "take action" against countries that "torture" Hindus, just like he "acted" against Pakistan.
Separately, Raut asked what happened about Kashmiri Pandits
Notably, opposition parties are poised to oppose the Bill
In all probability, Lok Sabha will witness high-end showdown today with several parties clarifying that they will not support the Bill. Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav said they will oppose the Bill at all costs. And Badruddin Ajmal, Lok Sabha MP from Dhubri said, "This Citizenship Bill is against the Constitution and against Hindu-Muslim unity." Considering BJP has the numbers, will opposition succeed?
