Contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act has left the ruling Janata Dal-United divided into teams. Though the Act was officially given the party’s support in the Parliament there seems to be a rise of factional ideologies within the party on the issue.
Earlier, JDU vice-president Prashant Kishor and national secretary Pawan Verma had raised their concerns over the party’s official support to the Citizenship Act. Pawan Verma has also termed the Citizenship Act as “unconstitutional” and “discriminatory“.
As quoted by ANI, Prashant Kishor said, “The majority prevailed in Parliament. Now beyond the judiciary, the task of saving the soul of India is on 16 Non-BJP CMs as it is the states who have to operationalize these acts. Three CMs (Punjab/Kerala/WB) have said NO to CAB and NRC. Time for others to make their stand clear.”
The majority prevailed in Parliament. Now beyond judiciary, the task of saving the soul of India is on 16 Non-BJP CMs as it is the states who have to operationalise these acts.
3 CMs (Punjab/Kerala/WB) have said NO to #CAB and #NRC. Time for others to make their stand clear.
— Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) December 13, 2019
In another incident, Gulam Rasool Balyawi, a JDU MP was seen shouting slogans against the Citizenship Act in a protest rally. The rally was organized by Edara-e-Sharia (Islamic organization). He had also requested the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to reconsider his decision to support the legislation.
The nation is witnessing multiple protests across various states over the Act. TMC has also decided to hold a rally against the issue on December 16. On the related note, ruling CPI (M) party and the opposition Congress has also decided to organized a joint protest against the legislation in Kerala.
Parliament has approved the passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on Wednesday. President Ram Nath Kovind has also given his assent to the CAB bill on Thursday. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 bill seeks to declare Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zorastrian, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan eligible for citizenship who came to India before December 31, 2014. Although the Bill only carries the provision of citizenship for the non-muslim population that arrived from the neighboring nations