Protest held in Bhopal against citizenship bill

Braving untimely drizzle, members of an organisation staged a protest here on Thursday evening against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) alleging it was unconstitutional and communal in nature.

The protesters, members of the Madhya Pradesh Democratic Rights Forum (MPDRF), burnt copies of the bill at Board Office square and chanted slogans against the legislation approved by Parliament.

Massive protests against the bill have rocked the north-eastern states.

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday evening passed the contentious bill, completing the legislative process for giving Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The Lok Sabha had cleared the legislation on Monday and it will become a law once President Ram Nath Kovind gives his assent.

"The bill is unconstitutional and communal, MPDRF coordinator Vijay Kumar told PTI.

We also burnt copies of the CAB, which we downloaded from a site, after putting them in a carton, he added.

Kumar alleged the provisions of the bill were against the secular values of the Constitution and an insult to its makers.

We demand that the central government immediately withdraw the bill in the interest of the Constitution," the MPDRF functionary added.

The protest was held amid unseasonal rain in the state capital.