CAB 2019: Sanjay Raut slams Centre for 'not gauging emotions' of North-Eastern citizens

Asserting that the situation across the country is "not normal", Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday slammed the Central government for not gauging emotions of North-Eastern citizens before tabling the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Parliament.

"In Rajya Sabha, the Home Minister said that the situation across the country is normal, but it does not appear to be normal. Before the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was tabled in the Parliament, the emotions of North Eastern people were not gauged and properly communicated," Raut told media persons here.

The Shiv Sena leader rued that if the government had tried to understand the emotions of the people, violent protests of "this magnitude" would not have taken place. "There is Army in Kashmir and now it has also been sent to the North-East," he added. Opposition parties and locals in northeastern states are staging protests against the passage of the CAB. Indefinite curfew has been imposed in few districts of Assam in the wake of protests after the passage of the CAB in Rajya Sabha.The CAB smoothly sailed through Parliament after the Rajya Sabha passed it on Wednesday. As many as 125 members of the Upper House voted in favor of the Bill while 105 MPs voted against the Bill, which was passed by Lok Sabha earlier this week.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 and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.