Speaking against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, 11 December, senior Congress leaders launched a sharp offensive against the government.
Former Union Minister Kapil Sibal specifically targeted Home Minister Amit Shah, castigating him for a comment that he made on ‘fear in Muslims in India’.
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“Muslims in India don’t need to fear about the Bill but Muslim refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh cannot be given citizenship in India,” Shah had said while placing the Bill in the Upper House.
Objecting to the comment, Sibal said Muslims in India aren't scared of him.
Sibal said the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is “targeting a community without naming it.”
The senior leader also urged Shah to withdraw his comment that Congress partitioned the country along religious lines.
"The two-nation theory was propagated by Savarkar, not by us . It would be fulfilled today with the passing of this Bill," Sibal said.
“Don’t convert India’s Republic into Jurassic Republic with just two dinosaurs,” Sibal signed off.
‘Slap on the Face of Parliament’: Chidambaram
Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram termed the Bill as "a slap on the face of Parliament".
"Parliamentarians are being asked to do something unconstitutional and then the baby is passed on to the judiciary and in the judiciary, lawyers and judges will decide what you have done is constitutional or not.
He said that the government is trying to push its Hindutva agenda through the Bill.
"This is a sad day. Thankfully they are not amending the Constitution, they are only making a law, and I am absolutely confident, I am absolutely clear in my mind, this law will be struck down," he said.
He alleged that “a small part of the Constitution is sought to be wrecked and demolished by this insidious Bill”.
"Fortunately we have three organs of the state, the executive is complicit, the legislature is being invited to collaborate. Hopefully the judiciary will strike it down and will save India and the idea of India," he said.
‘Party Manifesto Cannot Override Constitution’: Anand Sharma
Attacking the BJP over the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Congress leader Anand Sharma, on Wednesday, said the manifesto of any political party cannot be above the Constitution of the country.
"Every political party has a right to have its own manifesto. But the manifesto of any political party cannot be above the Constitution of this country," he said, adding that the Bill fails the "morality" test.
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