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Munawar Zaman 
Press TV, New Delhi
India is the world’s largest democracy and so far a secular nation.

Over the decades, the country has hosted persecuted immigrants from neighboring countries with respect, regardless of their faith, but things seem to have changed since the emergence of the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apparently a new citizenship amendment bill has cast a shadow over India’s secular fabric as the country is seeking to grant nationality to persecuted immigrants on the basis of religion.

This new citizenship bill which was approved by the cabinet on Wednesday will grant nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsi refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan but will exclude Muslims.

Such bill was part of the manifesto announced by Prime Minister Modi’s ruling BJP in 2019 general elections in which the Hindu Nationalist leader won with an absolute majority.

Critics have questioned the government’s decision by limiting the scope of the bill as the proposal excludes thousands of undocumented immigrants from Sri Lanka, Nepal and most importantly persecuted Rohingya from neighboring Myanmar.

Earlier in 2016, the government introduced the bill in parliament for the first time but it was stalled after some alliance partners withdrew support and protests flared in ethnic northeast region.

The bill is all set to be cleared this week by the lower house of the parliament where the government enjoys majority however it may face hurdles in the upper house where the government is short of numbers. 

Original Article Source: Press TV | Published on Thursday, 05 December 2019 21:36 (about 1574 days ago)