Amit Shah to table Citizenship Amendment Bill in LS today

Luckniow: Home Minister amit Shah will produce the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha today which will be followed by a series of debate and vote.

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This bill proposes to give citizenship to religious minorities persecuted in neighbouring Muslim countries--the first time that India is seeking to grant nationality on the basis of religion.

The Bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 by seeking to grant citizenship to undocumented and illegal non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. Lok Sabha is expected to vote on the Bill on Monday and Rajya Sabha a day later, said media reports.

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The Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Left Front oppose the Bill, calling it anti-Muslim. BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah has made the legislation the centerpiece of his campaign against “illegal infiltrators".

Last week on Wednesday, the Union cabinet had cleared the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

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