Legislation guaranteeing citizenship to immigrants evokes protests in India

  Protests were reported from India’s northeastern states of Assam and Tripura on Tuesday against the “Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB)” which was passed in the parliament’s lower house  Lok Sabha on Monday night, reports Xinhua.
   The protesters, who set ablaze a number of vehicles and a market in Tripura, demanded withdrawal of the bill.
   A large number of tourists were reportedly stranded in various parts of the two states.
   Commercial institutions and shops in main markets of Guwahati city in Assam remained shut due to the protest, said media reports.
   The protesters argued that the bill was against the basic essence of the Indian constitution.
   The bill is scheduled to be introduced for discussion and passage in the parliament’s upper house “Rajya Sabha” on Wednesday.
   If passed in the upper house, the legislation would become law guaranteeing citizenship to migrants belonging to six religious communities – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and overstaying in India.  Enditem