Citizenship amendment bill 2019 received a green signal from the Union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
The citizenship bill aims to grant citizenship to the non-Muslim communities of Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, who came to India before December 31, 2014.
Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated in the parliament, “Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Christian refugees should get citizenship, hence Citizenship Amendment Bill is important. The refugees who are being discriminated in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh, will have Indian citizenship.”
On November 22, several organizations including All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti took to the streets demanding withdrawal of Citizenship Amendment Bill. The students and other members in the protest were seen holding banners which said, “Assam opposes CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill)”.
Other than 30 organizations demonstrating anti-Citizenship Amendment Bill sentiments, large number of AASU (All Assam Students’ Union) protestors took to the streets in Guwahati, and Upper and Lower Assam districts challenging the government’s idea to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.