Congress President Sonia Gandhi called the day of passage of CAB by the Parliament as a dark day in the Constitutional history of India.
Okay.
If facilitating the persecuted minorities from Islamic countries - Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh - to lead a dignified lives is dark day, then it is an absurd comment, because the Citizenship Amendment Bill is nothing to do with Indian Muslims.
The Bill is all about giving citizenship to the refugees, not taking away citizenship of Indians, including Muslims.
The truth, however, is Rajiv Gandhi government's denial of giving maintenance to a divorced woman by passing the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, in contradiction to the Supreme Court verdict, was the darkest day in the annals of Indian Constitution.
Judicial Blackmail
Never before in the history of Parliamentary debate, a MP had questioned the authority of the house in making laws, but Chidambaram, an advocate himself, broke all parliamentary decency to do it.
"This (bill) is 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. Fortunately, we have three organs of the state. The executive is complicit. The legislature is invited to collaborate . Hopefully, the judiciary will strike it down and will save India and idea of India."
This, actually, is the most shameful of statements in the august house as it undermines the power of the Parliamentarians, who have all the authority to make laws, including granting citizenship to persecuted minorities of the three bordering Islamic states to India.
If these honorable members are bent on undermining their powers, then they should not be in the business of legislating, better they resign as members of the Parliament.
The Real Idea Of India
Opposition parties, who play vote-bank politics, have differing stands on the same issue, when they are in power and in opposition.
Today, they are opposing to grant citizenship to persecuted minorities, but had raised a mayhem on the same issue in the past.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, during the UPA tenure, had shot of a letter to then home minister Chidambaram asking for facilitating Hindu and Sikh migrants from Pakistan.
As many as 13,000 persecuted minority people were given shelter in Rajasthan bordering Pakistan.
Tarun Gogoi-led government in Assam had sought citizenship for persecuted Hindu Bengalis, Buddhists who migrated from Bangladesh in 2012, when both centre and state were ruled by Congress.
Gogoi had submitted a memorandum to Prime Manmohan Singh on April 20, 2012, seeking citizenship to religious minorities, who had to flee due to discrimination and religious persecution at the time of partition.
On December 18, 2003, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was then leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, had raised the issue in Rajya Sabha to grant citizenship to Hindus from Bangladesh, who had taken refuge in India because of persecution.
In 2005, TMC MP Mamata Banerjee, had created a ruckus in Lok Sabha over the issue of illegal infiltrators in West Bengal.
Raising the issue, she had said, "The infiltration in Bengal has become a disaster now ... I have both the Bangladeshi and Indian voters list. This is a very serious matter. I would like to know when would it be discussed in the House?"
These same leaders also are contending that CAB is against idea of India dreamt by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
But, the reality is different. Gandhiji, in 1947, had stressed on the need to grant proper rights to minorities in Pakistan.
In a prayer meeting on September 26, he had openly declared that the Hindus and the Sikhs staying in Pakistan, can come to India by all means, if, they do not wish to continue there. In that case, it is the first duty of the Indian government to give them jobs and make their lives comfortable.
On November 25 same year, the Congress Working Committee had passed a resolution urging citizenship for refugees from Pakistan.
Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, had declared in the oath-taking ceremony that India is anxious to rehabilitate displaced persons who have suffered and still suffering great hardships and privations.
Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had declared on January 12, 1950 in Kolkata - "Those who are our flesh and blood, who fought by our side in the freedom struggle cannot suddenly become foreigners to us because they are on the other side of line. There are people in South Africa, people of Indian origin but with African citizenship, whom we still try to help. If they have claim on us, surely, those in that part of Bengal too have a claim."
The real idea of India, in fact is reflected in the inclusive stand of these leaders.
Lunatic Stand
Actor Naseeruddin Shah and left-liberal cabal, in December last, had said India is unsafe for Muslims living in India. So, in that case, it should not be advisable for them to push for the entry of Muslims in India.
They must either tell the nation, that India is a safe country for Muslims, or unsafe, because they cannot have two differing opinions about India at the same time.
Period
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