NEW DELHI: Bangladeshi nationals including Hindus should not be granted citizenship as proposed in the Citizenship Amendment Bill, opposition members Tuesday suggested saying India is a secular country and nationality should not be granted on the basis of religion, sources said.
The suggestion was given by the Congress and other opposition members at a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the bill which is chaired by BJP MP Rajendra Agrawal, a source who was present in the meeting said.
The bill seeks to grant citizenship to people from minority communities — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12 even if they don’t possess any proper document.
“The members have given various suggestions and the panel will decide in its next meeting which amendments will have to be taken up for consideration. The amendments for the bill have to be passed by the committee through consensus. But if it doesn’t happen then we will go for voting,” Agarwal told reporters after the three-hour-long meeting. (AGENCIES)
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