Chidambaram trashes Amit Shah's debate challenge

December 29, 2019 15:15

Former Home Minister P Chidambaram questioned the logic behind his successor, Amit Shah, challenging Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to a debate on the Citizenship Amendment Act when he "had not answered even a single question" on the issue in Parliament.

"Amit Shah must go back and listen to the debates in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. He did not answer even a single question, and now he is challenging Rahul Gandhi for a debate on it. Everything is wrong about this law," he said.

The Congress leader, who is out on bail in a money laundering case, said the legislation was passed through Parliament and signed into law with undue haste by the BJP-led centre. "The Citizenship Amendment Bill was approved on December 8 by the Union Cabinet. On December 9, they introduced it in the Lok Sabha and passed it at 12 am. On December 11, they introduced it in the Rajya Sabha. The present government passed this bill in three days," he added.

He went on to praise the public for opposing the law, which has been termed "unconstitutional" by many. "Thousands of students and young people came to the streets. The majority of the persons who came on to the streets were Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jain, Parsis, Dalits and tribals," he said, terming the agitation as a "struggle heralded by people who believe they are Indians".

The Citizenship Amendment Act, for the first time, makes religion the test of citizenship in India. The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim-dominated countries to get citizenship if they fled to India before 2015 because of religious persecution. Critics say it is designed to discriminate against Muslims and violates the secular principles of the constitution.

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