December 9, 2019
Saugata Roy opposes the introduction of The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Sir, I rise to oppose the introduction of The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 under Rule 72(1) of Rules and Procedures.
Sir, this is the book, but I would not refer to only the book. I think that the Home Minister being new to the House is not fully familiar yet of the Rules and Procedures. What does the Rule say?
It says, “If a motion for leave to introduce a Bill is opposed, the Speaker, if thinks fit, after permitting, brief statements from the member who opposes the motion and the member who moved the motion, may, without further debate, put the question, So opposing is per se, suo moto. It does not need any reference to legislative competence.”
Number 2, there is a proviso: “Provided that where a motion is opposed on the ground that the Bill initiates legislation outside the legislative competence of the House, the Speaker may permit a full discussion thereon.”
Sir, I also refer to Kaul and Sachdev, 7th Edition, pages 618 and 619, aap dekhiye pura detail likha hain, ki kaise Bill ko oppose kiya jai. Sir, mein opposition ka Notice diya, 10 baje ka andar diya, maine karan bhi dikhaya ki kyun mein is Bill ka introduction oppose karta hoon.
Sir, mujhe aapse yeh vinti karna hain, ki aaj sangvidhan bada sankat mein hain. Jo Ambedkar saab, Jawaharlal Nehru <interruptions>
Sir, maine Article 14 ke siva bhi, usko chodke bhi ek point diya hain, woh padne diya jai.
Sir, let me first read Article 14. It says, “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. If any community is left out of the purview of Law it is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.”
This is what I was saying, further, I heard the Home Minister, four months ago, in this House, he said “hamara slogan hain, ek vidhan, ek nishan”, “one country, one nation”.
Sir, this was said while abrogating Article 370, relating to Jammu and Kashmir; it was said that it would be “one nation, one law”. There would be no separate laws for Kashmir. Now you are bringing a law, you are saying that the areas included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, belonging to Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland will not be part of the law. Also, the areas under the Inner Line Permit will also be excluded. Now the Home Minister is proposing one law for the rest of the country, one law for the Sixth Schedule areas, one law for the Inner Line Permit region. That’s why I oppose this Bill.
Sir, under Rule 72 (1) of the Rules and Procedures, I beg to oppose the introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019. The grounds for opposition are following:
- i) The Bill is divisive and unconstitutional. It violates Article 14 of the Constitution, which ensures equality before Law of all persons. This Law is against everything that our founding fathers and Dr Ambedkar envisioned in the Constitution of India.
- ii) The Bill by leaving out the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura as included in the Sixth Schedule
<interruptions>
