Hindu community in Assam is uncertain about its future after CAB: Kapil Sibal

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said here on Thursday that "even the Hindu community is uncertain about its future" in Assam after the passage of Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in the Parliament.

"Government must realise that the manner in which they brought CAB and the kind of fear that has been spread because of uncertainties, even the Hindu community for which they have brought this Bill are uncertain about their future," said Kapil Sibal.

"This government is playing with fire by bringing and passing the divisive agenda in Parliament and by not allowing matters to be discussed fully in select committees. They did it in the 'note-bandi' when at midnight they announced something without realising its consequences and see where the state of the economy is today," he said.

 

"They did the same with GST without listening to the Congress party suggestions, they did it with Kashmir and see nothing is normal there," Sibal said.

"A wise leader should ensure that before bill is passed you must take people on board . They (government) think they have absolute majority, they think that they can persuade opposition parties after the passage of bills," he added.

CAB got the nod of Parliament after Rajya Sabha passed it on Wednesday. As many as 125 members of the Upper House voted in favour of the Bill while 105 MPs voted against the Bill. The Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting. It was passed by the Lok Sabha earlier this week.

Assam's Guwahati and Dibrugarh have been placed under indefinite curfew till further orders in the wake of protests after the passage of the Bill.

The administration has also suspended mobile Internet services for 24 hours from 7 pm on Wednesday in ten districts of the state - Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (metro), and Kamrup.

Five Army columns have been requisitioned and deployed in Assam while three Assam Rifles columns have also been requisitioned and deployed in Tripura.

The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.