Citizenship Act will be recorded as ‘black law’ in history, says Urmila Matondkar

• Urmila says CAA is same as British era Rowlatt Act 1919.
• The Rowlatt Act allowed the British to arrest and jail anyone involved in hatching conspiracies against them without a fair trial.
• Several people have been killed while scores were injured in deadly clashes after the law was approved by Indian parliament.

(Karachi) Indian actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar has termed the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 as ‘black law’ in the history, local media reported on Friday.

Comparing the Citizenship Act with the British era Rowlatt Act 1919, she said, “After the end of World War 2 in 1919, British knew that unrest was spreading in India and that may rise after war was over.”

“So they brought a law commonly known as Rowlatt Act. That 1919 law and citizenship & citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 will be recorded as black laws in history,” she remarked.

However, Matondkar quoted the World War 2 year wrong as it took place between 1939 and 1945.

The Rowlatt Act, which was passed by the Imperial Legislative Council, allowed the British to arrest and jail anyone involved in hatching conspiracies against them without a fair trial.

The Indian government adopted the Citizenship Law after amending 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.

When bill was passed, the move triggered violent protests in India, where thousands of Hindus would be entitled to gain citizenship.

Till date, several people have been killed while scores were injured in deadly clashes after the law was approved by Indian parliament.

The CAB was first introduced in 2016 by the Narendra Modi-led government but it was withdrawn after the BJP's alliance partner withdrew support.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.