Yechury slams Centre over Citizenship Bill

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday slammed the Centre over the passage of Citizenship Amendment Bill, alleging the BJP-led government brought in the legislation to "sharpencommunal polarisation" and "convert" India a "Hindutva rashtra".

He said the citizenship of a person cannot be determined by religious affiliation.

"By doing this, they want to sharpen communal polarisation. They want to divide the people of India and convert our secular democratic republic into a Hindutva rashtra," Yechury told reporters here.

The Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill a little past midnight on Monday after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours.

According to the proposed legislation, members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan by December 31, 2014 and faced religious persecution in those countries, will not be treated as illegal immigrants and given Indian citizenship.