Amid protests India’s Lok Sabha passes controversial Citizenship Bill, excludes Muslim community

• The bill has been approved amid concerns and protests from various politicians, human rights organizations and the Muslim community.
• As part of the legal process, any bill that has to become a law needs to be ratified by both houses of the Parliament.
• A few days ago, India's cabinet approved the draft law that triggered violent protests in the country's northeast region.

(Karachi) India’s Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) has passed the controversial bill which will grant citizenship to religious minorities that migrated to India from neighbouring countries. However, the bill has excluded those belonging to the Muslim community flaring protests in the country, local media reported.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) has been approved amid concerns from various politicians, human rights organizations and the Muslim communities and is seen as a violation to India’s secular constitution.

When the bill was tabled in the lower house, legislatures from the opposition lodged a protest and criticized the Modi government of being biased over the matter.

The bill seeks to amend the 1955 law to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis facing persecution in other countries but it does not include the Muslim community that has been in majority in India.

The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) enjoys a majority but is short of numbers in the upper house (Rajya Sabha). As part of the legal process, any bill that has to become a law needs to be ratified by both houses of the Parliament.

When India's cabinet approved the draft law a few days ago, the move triggered violent protests in the country's northeast region, where thousands of Hindus would be entitled to gain citizenship.

The CAB was first introduced in 2016 by the Narendra Modi-led government but it was withdrawn after the BJP’s alliance partner withdrew support. Later, protests erupted in India's ethnically diverse northeast region.

The grant of citizenship to people belonging to the minorities was part of BJP’s manifesto and a trick to win the general elections that were held in May 2019. The BJP government always devised policies that are against the Muslims in India and had tried to hurt their sentiments in every possible manner.