CAB about rights of minorities facing religious persecution, do not digress from it, JP Nadda to Congress

During the ongoing debate on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, BJP MP JP Nadda said that leader of Congress in the house, Anand Sharma, was attempting to digress from the main topic.

"When a lawyer does not have an argument, he tries to show his intellectual abilities by bringing in arguments not linked to the main issue. CAB talks only of rights to minorities facing religious persecution. This is the essence of the bill and not to be digressed from," Nadda said.

Earlier, challenging the CAB, Anand Sharma had said that it is an attack on the 'foundation of the Indian Constitution' and fails the 'morality test'.

"The Bill that you have brought is an assault on the very foundation of the Indian constitution. It is an assault on the Republic of India. It hurts the soul of India. It is against our Constitution and democracy. It fails the morality test. It is divisive and discriminatory," Sharma said in the upper house.

"In our religion, we believe in rebirth, and that we meet our elders. So if Sardar Patel meets Modi Ji then he will be very angry with him, Gandhiji will, of course, be sad, but Patel will be indeed very angry," he added.

The CAB was introduced in Rajya Sabha today after it was passed by the lower house on Monday.

The Bill is being opposed by the Congress, TMC and many other parties including the one-time BJP ally, Shiv Sena, who have termed it 'unconstitutional and divisive'.

Meanwhile, speaking in favour of the Bill in the House, Nadda said that it was keeping in line with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's demand for better treatment of the minority refugees from neighbouring countries.

"In 2003, Dr Manmohan Singh had spoken to then-deputy PM Advani Ji on the treatment of refugees and persecution of minorities in countries like Bangladesh. He said we should have a more liberal approach in granting citizenship to them. So, we are following what he said," Nadda said.

In the 245-member Rajya Sabha, the halfway mark is currently 121 as five seats are vacant bringing down the strength of the House to 240.