Current Affairs

The controversial Indian Citizenship Bill has been passed by the parliament which allows Indian citizenship to immigrants from three neighbouring countries but not if they belong to Muslim community. Other political parties called it unconstitutional as it grounds citizenship on the basis of their religion and would affect India's 200 million strong Muslim community. The lawmakers approved the in the lower house of parliament which is dominated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The bill has received widespread opposition amongst people all over the country.

The contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) 2019 has been tabled in the Rajya Sabha today amid fierce protest from several opposition parties. At the moment hot discussion over the Bill is underway in the Upper House. In spite of smooth sail in the Lok Sabha, it would be a litmus test for the ruling party to pass it in the Rajya Sabha. The current strength of Rajya Sabha is 240 and 121 would be the magical figure for passing the Bill. At the outset, with the help of several regional parties, the ruling party is expected to pass the Bill even in Rajya Sabha easily. 

Nearly forty academicians and activists including Irfan Habib, Nandini Sundar and Jayati Ghosh have challenged Ayodhya verdict. Further, they have filed a petition in the Supreme Court to review the verdict on Ayodhya dispute given on November 9 where the site was given for construction of Ram Mandir and offered 5 acres of land to Sunni Waqf Board elsewhere in Ayodhya as a compensation. The reason behind filing petition especially when they were never a party in that dispute is because "they are aggrieved by the apex court verdict".