The Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill a little past midnight on Monday after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with 311 members favouring it and 80 voting against it.
According to the proposed legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31, 2014 facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.
In a hard-hitting reply to the debate on the proposed legislation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said people belonging to any religion should not have any fear under the Modi government as he asserted that the bill will give relief to those minorities who have been living a painful life after facing persecution in neighbouring countries.
The home minister also said that Bangladesh had 22% minorities even before it was created. "Whereas, the minority population in Pakistan has decreased from 23 per cent in 1947 to 3.7 per cent in 2011. Similarly minority population in Bangladesh has decreased from 22 per cent in 1947 to 7 per cent in 2011," he said.
This statement did not go down so well with netizens and they have been expressing their views in the way they know best: by posting about it on social media. After which Amit Shah started trending on Twitter and netizens started expressing what they felt about the Home Minister's statement.
Here's what netizens had to say:
The home minister said the Citizenship Bill will give relief and constitutional respect to those who have been living a painful life after facing persecution in neighbouring countries. Shah dismissed the suggestions that the Bill is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality for everyone, as it aims to give citizenship to persecuted people only. "This Bill is not unconstitutional and not in violation of Article 14 and has nothing to do with Muslims in India," he said but made it clear that Rohingya Muslims, coming from Myanmar, will not be given Indian citizenship.
(Inputs from Agencies)
