Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed in Rajya Sabha

December 11: Finally, after much deliberation, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. A total of 125 MP’s voted in favour of CAB, whereas 105 of them voted against it out of a total of 230 members present and voting.

As the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 passes in the Parliament, the dreams of crores of deprived & victimised people has come true today.

Grateful to PM @narendramodi ji for his resolve to ensure dignity and safety for these affected people.

I thank everyone for their support.

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 11, 2019

After an eight-hour debate that saw several Opposition leaders make their cases against it, the CAB was passed. After the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11 am tomorrow. The Bill will now be sent to the President of India for his assent.

Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had tabled the bill saying that the bill provides ‘hopes’ for people who are not living with permanent residency in India. He said that the Bill has been brought to rectify a historic blunder — the partition — and give a dignified life to non-Muslims of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who fled religious persecution and settled in India before December 31, 2014.

BSP MPs Ashok Siddharth and Raja Ram were not there for voting. While, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut says. “Shiv Sena has boycotted the voting.”

In a statement released by the Congress, it stated, “”Today marks a dark day in the constitutional history of India. The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill marks the victory of narrow-minded and bigoted forces over India’s pluralism. The Bill fundamentally challenges the idea of India that our forefathers fought for and, in its place, creates a disturbed, distorted and divided India where religion will become a determinant of nationhood.”