Iran Press/ Asia: The lower house of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) has passed a controversial bill to grant citizenship to religious minorities from neighbouring countries.
According to Aljazeera, after a marathon of 12-hour session, 311 members of parliament on Monday voted in favour of the measure despite concerns the bill violates the spirit of India's secular constitution. Eighty voted against
The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) will be a test for the BJP in the upper house of parliament on Tuesday because it lacks majority there. A bill needs to be ratified by both houses to become a law.
The bill has already prompted widespread protests in the north-east of the country which borders Bangladesh, as people there feel that they will be "overrun" by immigrants from across the border. The CAB was first introduced in 2016 by the BJP government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but was withdrawn after an alliance partner withdrew support and protests flared in India's remote and ethnically diverse northeast region.
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