Shiv Sena accuses Centre of ‘invisible Hindu-Muslim partition’

MUMBAI: Ahead of tabling of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha on Monday, the Shiv Sena has questioned whether “selective acceptance” of Hindu illegal immigrants will act as a trigger for a religious war in the country.

People protest introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019, in New Delhi. Tribune Photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, December 9

The Shiv Sena on Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of bringing an ‘invisible partition’ between Hindus and Muslims through the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha earlier in the day.

An editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna warned that granting citizenship to Hindu illegal immigrants would cause religious war in the country.

“There is no shortage of problems in the country. But we are creating new problems like the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill... the Centre has now made an invisible partition over the Bill,” the
editorial said.

Saamna pointed out that there was no other country for Hindus other than India. “But accepting only Hindu illegal immigrants ... could lead to religious war in the country”, the editorial said.

The newspaper pointed out that most of the states in the North East, West Bengal and Bihar are worried that “illegal immigrants were becoming a threat to their culture”.

The newspaper suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could instead “teach a strong lesson to other neighbouring countries that were torturing Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis and Jains. Modi should ensure that people from these communities won’t have to leave their homes”.

Saamna further pointed out that illegal immigrants living in India irrespective of their religion should be sent back to their countries of origin.

“We should know the exact number of illegal immigrants... If the number is in lakhs where are they going to be settled,” the newspaper asked.

The newspaper further added that illegal immigrants were putting a lot on the civic amenities in Maharashtra’s cities.

“Now states like Gujarat and Karnataka will have to play a major and humanitarian role to accommodate these immigrants,” Saamna said referring to the two states that are ruled by the BJP.