Asaduddin Owaisi said that while the Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra promised secular and inclusive governance, it went on to support to the CAB which he alleged was aimed at making Muslims “stateless”
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) boss and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi called the Shiv Sena’s decision to support the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha but setting conditions for supporting its passage in the Rajya Sabha as an example of “Bhangra politics”.
“This is Bhangra politics. They write ‘secular’, in common minimum programme, this bill is against secularism and Article 14. It is politics of opportunism,” he said according to ANI.
Last month, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government in Maharashtra comprising the Sena, Congress and the nationalist Congress Party (NCP) promised secular and inclusive governance in a document spelling out its five-year agenda.
During the debate in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Owaisi tore up the bill, alleging that it was aimed at making Muslims “stateless”. He also warned that it would lead to another partition.
The Shiv Sena which backed the government on the CAB in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, prepared the ground to take a sharp u-turn in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with party boss and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray saying his MPs would back the contentious law only if the government accepts its suggestion to hold back voting rights to brand-new citizens for 25 years.
The Sena has suggested changes it wants to be included in the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, he said. “Where will these refugees stay…in which state. All this should be clarified,” he added.
“We raised some questions but they were not answered. It is an illusion that only the BJP cares for the country,” Thackeray said.
“We don’t take a stand based on who likes it or not,” he said when asked about his party’s stance on the Bill.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there, was passed in the Lok Sabha a little past midnight on Monday after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours.
Though the opposition has slammed the bill, alleging it is discriminatory against Muslims and violates the Constitution, Home Minister Amit Shah has asserted that people belonging to any religion should not have any fear under the Modi government.
The Lok Sabha passed the bill with 311 MPs voting in favour of it while 80 voted against it.
Prasanta Patnaik