Picture : Twitter / ANI
Paving the way for Parliament to take up the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, the Union Cabinet has approved the draft law that seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they faced religious persecution there.
The bill is a key part of the Bharatiya Janata Party ideological project as it proposes citizenship to non-Muslim, mostly Hindus, refugees living in India and will protect them from the nation-wide NRC drive the central government is planning to identify illegal immigrants.
At the Cabinet briefing, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the government has taken care of the interests of everyone and “the interest of India”.
“People will welcome it as it is in the interest of the nation,” he said when asked about the protests by different groups, especially in northeastern states where refugees from the three neighbouring countries have been living in large numbers.
The government is likely to introduce the bill in the next two days and may push for its passage the next week.
Key opposition parties like the Congress and Trinamool Congress have severely criticised the bill.
