Amid Fierce Protests, Citizenship Bill Clears Lok Sabha | Read

The Citizenship Amendment Bill was cleared by the Lok Sabha after nearly 12 hours of heated discussions on Monday, with 311 voting in support and 80 against. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who introduced the bill, had earlier rejected the opposition's claim that it violates the constitution's core principles of equality by saying that it was not even "0.001% against India's minorities". He also questioned the Congress' right to dub the bill as discriminatory when it is the very party that "divided India on the grounds of religion" during the 1947 partition. Opposition parties have spoken out against the bill because it proposes to expedite the citizenship process for "minority migrants" from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, leaving those from the Muslim community out of its ambit.