Hyderabad: AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi has slammed the Citizenship Amendment Bill and called it communal.
Reacting to the Cabinet’s nod to the Bill, which is expected to be tabled in the Parliament, he said the Bill is a grave violation of the Constitution and is an effort to turn India into a religion-based state. He wanted to know why Muslims were being excluded.
Speaking to media in Delhi, he said, “India, as a country, has accepted the doctrine of Non-Refoulement, though we have not signed it, but customised International law is part of it. So many judgments of the International Court of Justice and European courts are there. We enjoyed the high moral ground when we went to ICJ for Kulbhushan. There will be global embarrassment. The largest democratic country is making laws on citizenship based on religion. This is a grave violation. This is nothing but an attempt to turn India into a religious country. Why are you excluding Muslims and on what basis? Are you not violating the Constitution,” he asked, claiming that this Bill is against Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. He asked why two laws are needed on citizenship.
“You are trying to divide the country and revive two-nation theory. We, the Muslims of the nation, rejected the theory of Jinnah and now you are providing citizenship based on religion,” he said wondering why the government excluded Tamilians, who are living in Tamil Nadu for last 30 years and had lost everything in Sri Lanka.
“You are sending across a message to the Muslims that they are second-class citizens,” he said. He refused excuses given by the government that amendments are being carried out considering the religious persecution in neighbouring countries. When Christians opined that only Christians from Syria should be accepted in US, Mr Obama had rejected the idea, saying that it would be contrary to the US constitution and said he would allow everyone,” he pointed out.
