Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (December 11). Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi, in the immediate aftermath, said in a statement that passage of the bill marked a dark day in the constitutional history of India. "The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill marks the victory of narrow-minded and bigoted forces over India's pluralism. The Bill fundamentally challenges the idea of India that our forefathers fought for and, in its place, creates a disturbed, distorted and divided India where religion will become a determinant of nationhood," Sonia Gandhi said in a statement tweeted by the Congress' official twitter handle.
The statement added, "The Citizenship Amendment Bill is not just an affront to the eternal principles of equality and religious non-discrimination that have been enshrined in our constitution, but represents a rejection of an India that would be a free nation for all her people, irrespective of religion, region, caste, creed, language or ethnicity. In its design, its grave implications, this flawed legislation is antithetical to the spirit of the freedom movement and violative of the soul of our nation."
The Congress president also pointed out that the Bill was being passed at a time when the entire world was celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Sonia Gandhi summed it up by saying that she and her party were fully determined to be relentless in their struggle against BJP's 'dangerously divisive and polarizing agenda'.
Read full text of her statement
The Citizenship Amendment Bill passed the Rajya Sabha test on Wednesday. 125 Rajya Sabha MPs voted in favour of the bill while 105 voted against the Citizenship Bill. Lok Sabha has already passed the bill.
Citizenship Bill will now be sent to President Ram Nath Kovind after which it will become an act.
Also Read | Rajya Sabha passes Citizenship (Amendment) Bill: Know all that happened
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