Describing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as unconstitutional, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said the bill, brought hurriedly by the Centre, was completely divisive and should be sent to a parliamentary committee for review.
The BSP chief said that to grant citizenship on the basis of religion and to discriminate on the basis of religion was completely against the basic structure of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s humanitarian and secular Constitution.
She said her party did not agree to the present form of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
Mayawati said that rather than forcing the Bill, brought in a very unconstitutional and immature manner, much like demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Centre should do a rethink on the matter.
“It should be sent to a parliamentary committee for better discussions and deliberations so that the Bill can be presented before the people of the country in a constitutional manner,” Mayawati opined.
The BSP chief said that she wanted to make it clear that if the Union government took the right and suitable decisions as per the Indian Constitution and in public interest, the BSP would ignore politics and support the Centre.
The BSP supremo further said that her party always had a clear stand that if a policy was made after respecting believers of every caste, community and religion, it would be supported by her party.
“The present Citizenship (Amendment) Bill has many flaws and the Centre, for removing them, should deliberate and discuss the matter with all parties before bringing it in Parliament, so that apprehensions over it could be resolved,” Mayawati said.
On Wednesday, the Union cabinet had cleared the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, if they faced religious persecution there.
Meanwhile, welcoming the extension of reservation for SC/STs for another 10 years in the legislature, Mayawati asked the government to fill up the backlog of posts reserved for these sections in Central and state governments by launching a recruitment drive.