DN&V Correspondent
New Delhi, December 13: A challenge: The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (or CAB) is being challenged in the Supreme Court as unconstitutional for violating the Right to Equality under Article 14 of the Constitution. The petition against the CAB was filed by the Indian Union Muslim League, a Kerala-based party that sits in the opposition with the Congress, and four members of the Parliament — PK Kunhalikutty (Lok Sabha; from Kerala), ET Mohammed Basheer (Lok Sabha; Kerala), Abdul Wahab (Rajya Sabha; Kerala), and K Navas Kani (Lok Sabha; Tamil Nadu).
The violence: In Assam’s Guwahati, at least two people died due to bullet injuries as security forces opened fire after protesters defied curfew to take to the streets, burning tyres and vehicles. Protesters set Assam BJP MLA Binod Hazarika’s house on fire in Chabua district, reports PTI. In Assam only seven of 33 districts are protected under the Sixth Schedule and thus exempted from CAB. CAB’s 2014 cut-off date for citizenship to non-Muslim migrants also moves forward the deadline under Assam Accord by more than four decades (An explainer on the accord’s role in the protest here). The suspension of internet services across Assam has been extended for another 48 hours from 12 noon Thursday, even as most airlines and trains to and from the state (and Tripura) remain cancelled.
In Meghalaya, internet services and mobile communication have been suspended for at least 48 hours and a curfew is in place in most areas. State CM Conrad Sangma had to postpone a trip to Delhi to meet Home Minister Amit Shah as his cabinet ministers failed to reach the airport. Meghalaya does not have the Inner Line Permit and only some areas of the state are protected under the Sixth Schedule — the two conditions that exempt CAB from some Northeast regions. Meghalaya, though, is introducing its own Resident Safety and Security Act that will effectively be an Inner Line Permit — it is opposed by hoteliers and the tourism industry though.
A message from Dhaka: Bangladesh’s foreign minister AK Abdul Momen cancelled his three-day visit to India on Thursday, a day after he rejected the claim that religious minorities are persecuted in his country. Memon told the Dhaka Tribune: “In our country, religious harmony is at a very high level. No one from other religions is oppressed here.” “If he [Amit Shah] stayed in Bangladesh for a few months, he would see the exemplary communal harmony in our country,” he added. Shah had said minorities in Bangladesh (including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs) were being religiously persecuted in Bangladesh, while home minister Rajnath Singh had said Bangladesh (also Pakistan and Afghanistan) were “theocratic Islamic States”. Bangladesh is a secular democracy under the constitution.
