Don't see enemy property bill through religious prism: Rajnath

The issue of enemy property should not be seen through the prism of religion or community as it is a national issue, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday.

Participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, introduced in the house on Tuesday, Rajnath Singh said it was necessary to do away with certain ambiguities in the Enemy Property Act, 1968.

"It is not only for Pakistani nationals but also for those who go to China and take Chinese citizenship," he said.

The government had brought in the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance on January 7 this year to amend the existing law.

"Ordinances have been brought by earlier governments as well to amend the 1968 act. Don't call it a BJP ordinance as a government is a government, no matter which party or parties are in power," Rajnath Singh said, citing a similar ordinance brought in by the UPA government in 2010.

The amendments introduced in the new bill include that once an enemy property is vested in the custodian, it would continue to be vested in him as enemy property irrespective of whether the enemy or enemy firm has ceased to be an enemy due to reasons such as death, he said.

The law of succession would also not apply to such property.