Ahmed Patel: Passage of CAB not a landmark day, but darkest day in Indian history

With both the Upper House and Lower House of the Parliament clearing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill for implementation, Senior Congress party leader Ahmed Patel on Thursday spoke about the CAB and the ongoing protests over the bill in North-Eastern states like Assam. 

Talking to news agency ANI, Ahmed Patel spoke about how the current government does not think of the consequences that a Bill will have before its implementation. Calling it to be the darkest day in Indian history, the senior Congress leader said, "The unrest was likely to happen because they first take the action and then think about its consequences. It is not a landmark day, it is the darkest day in history." 

Earlier on December 11, the Congress leader had taken to his official Twitter handle and had termed the passage of Bill in the Rajya Sabha to be a 'brute instance of abusing majority.'

READ | Dr Swamy says 'We are in touch with Sena' after its MPs abstain from voting on CAB in RS

PM Modi calls the passage of CAB to be 'landmark day' 

Earlier on December 11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken to his official Twitter handle and had called the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to be a landmark day for India.

READ | Harsh Vardhan lauds CAB, says 'our brothers who suffered for long can finally be happy'

About CAB

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian communities who fleed fearing religious persecution from countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, and entered India on or before December 31, 2014. CAB was approved by the Parliament after Rajya Sabha passed the bill on December 11.

125 members of the Rajya Sabha voted in favour of the Bill while 105 MPs voted against the Bill. BJP's former ally Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting. The Bill, which grants citizenship to the non-Muslims who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, was approved by the lower house of the parliament on Monday night with a majority of 311 votes against 80 votes. 391 members were present in Lok Sabha at the time of voting. 

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