Senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal led the opposition offensive against the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday as they accused the government of bringing in an "arbitrary executive fiat" to push its Hindutva agenda and warned that the proposed law will be struck down by judiciary.
Participating in a debate on the bill in the Upper House, the two eminent lawyers said the the legislation is not legally and morally tenable as it is against the basic principles of the Indian Constitution.
Chidambaram termed the Bill "a slap on the face of Parliament" and said the government is "ramming" through with it in order to advance its Hindutva agenda.
Sibal accused the government of giving a legal colour to the "two nation theory" and urged it not to convert "Indian republic into a jurassic republic where there are two dinosaurs".
He questioned how the government would ascertain whether non-Muslims were persecuted or not as there is no law at present that gives citizenship based on persecution.
The Citizenship Amendment bill was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday.
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Opposing the bill in the Upper House, Chidambaram -- who is out on bail in the INX media case -- sought to know why the bill included only those who faced religious persecution and not persecution based on political reasons, on linguistic grounds, or by religious war.
"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.
"Knowing this is unconstitutional, I am afraid this government is ramming through (with) this bill in order to advance its Hindutva agenda," he said.
He further said, "Thankfully the government is not amending the Constitution, but only making a law. I am absolutely confident and clear in my mind, this law will be struck down (by the judiciary)."
Terming the bill as "unconstitutional and insidious", Chidambaram sought to know why Sri Lankan Hindus and Bhutanese Christians were excluded in it and added, "this exclusionary, inclusionary hyphenation is beyond common sense and logic."
"These are universal principles. Now, this Government is introducing a new category called citizenship by arbitrary executive fiat' and asking this Parliament to support the Government in passing what is patently an unconstitutional law," the former union minister said
On Shah's remarks that Muslims in India need not fear, Sibal said, "No Muslim in India is afraid of you. Neither I, nor any citizen or any Muslim of this country is afraid of you. We are afraid of only the Constitution, which you are making mockery of."
Raising objections to the bill, Sibal said, "First, it gives a legal colour to the two nation theory. Two, religion cannot be a factor in acquisition of citizenship that has been rejected by the Constitution of India."
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