Owaisi moves Supreme Court against Citizenship Act

New Delhi: MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi filed a petition before the Supreme Court challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act, his lawyer said on Saturday.

Earlier, he had stirred up a controversy when he tore a copy of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, in the Lok Sabha, saying that the Bill tries to divide the country.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Owaisi said the Bill is not only the part of a conspiracy to make Indian Muslims stateless but will also lead to pose a risk to the national security.

Justifying his act to tear the Bill, Owaisi said that he was following the footprints of Mahatma Gandhi, who opposed the certificate which was issued to Asia-origin people in South Africa.

The new law grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from the three neighbouring countries on the ground that they came to India due to religious persecution because they are minorities.

Under the new law, those belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan would not be counted as illegal migrants even if they don't have documents.

According to these changes, people of these communities will be entitled to get Indian citizenship in six years - instead of 12 years - and the cut-off date is December 31, 2014. Once they apply, they will be insulated from all proceedings for entering the country illegally.