Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
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Rajnath stresses need to shelter persecuted minorities
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, that seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha, said the six communities — Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan — faced “discrimination and religious persecution” and they “have no place to go, except India.”The Congress said many States opposed the Bill and it should be sent to a select committee. As the government rejected the demand, the party MPs walked out.
Nehru cited
Quoting former Prime Minister Jawaharal Nehru as being in favour of giving shelter to persecuted minorities in the neighbouring countries, Mr. Singh said, “Although Indian leaders signed pacts with leaders of Pakistan and Bangladesh for protection of minorities, it had not happened.” “Even former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while speaking as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, had asked the then BJP-led government to be more liberal in dealing with the issue of persecuted minorities in Bangladesh,” Mr. Singh said. The Bill seeks to grant citizenship to members of the six communities who have come to India till December 31, 2014.
