NEW DELHI: A proposed law to give citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan was passed by Lok Sabha Tuesday amid vigorous dissent by several opposition parties, including the Congress and the Left Front. Most parties from the northeast, even those that were allies of the BJP, have also strongly opposed Bill, saying it is "against the fundamental aspects of the Indian constitution".
A day-long shutdown was held against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, across the northeast Tuesday, in which five people were injured. Assam has been witnessing protests since the NDA government said it was going ahead with the controversial bill and Monday, Asom Gana Parishad, a regional ally of the BJP, exited the ruling coalition in Assam.
On Tuesday, moments after the bill was passed, Assam's BJP spokesperson Mehdi Alam Bora resigned all party posts in protest.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 will amend the laws governing citizenship, formed in 1955, to grant Indian nationality to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who fled religious persecution from the three neighbouring countries and entered India before December 31, 2014. See P7