SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal on CAA: "There should be no religious discrimination"

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday stated that there should be no discrimination in the country based on religion. During his address to the media, he also reiterated SAD's demand that Muslims should be included in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The Amended Citizenship Act which was enacted on December 12 grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. The citizenship will be granted to those who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Since the passage of CAA, major protests have erupted in various parts of the country including Delhi. 

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SAD demands inclusion of persecuted sections of Muslims to CAA

While addressing the media earlier in the day, Badal said, "I have said from the starting... We said that each and every religion should be included (in the Citizenship Amendment Act). We have been fighting for Sikhs who came to India from the neighboring countries from the last 10-15 years but I had made it clear in the Parliament that there should not be any discrimination on the basis of religion. Every single religion should be included."

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Earlier in December Shiromani Akali Dal had released a press statement and stated that Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh should not be excluded from the provision of the new law. During the debate about the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Parliament on December 9, Badal had suggested that the government should even add persecuted sections of Muslims to the legislation.

"Why don't we add names of Muslims? There are cases of Muslims being persecuted within their religion. I'll give you an example of the Ahmadiyya community in Punjab. Qadian is their headquarters. They're minority Muslims in Pakistan," Badal had added in the Parliament.

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(With inputs from ANI)