Citizenship Bill unconstitutional, will totally destroy minorities: Deve Gowda
New Delhi, Dec 11: Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday said he was opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as "it will totally destroy minorities and is unconstitutional".
Talking to PTI over phone, the Janata Dal (Secular) president said the Bill was contrary to the principles of secularism and other rights incorporated in the Constitution.
"You can't go against secularism and other constitutional principles," he said.
"I can't support such a Bill" as it would create "unrest" in the country, he added.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was passed by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Lok Sabha cleared the Bill on Monday.
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Hearing in defamation case against Rahul Gandhi postponed till March 27
Sultanpur (UP) (PTI): Hearing in the defamation case involving Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, which was scheduled to take place on Monday at the MP-MLA Court in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur district, could not take place due to the non-appearance of the plaintiff Vijay Mishra.
The court will now hear this matter on March 27.
Santosh Kumar Pandey, the advocate of the plaintiff, on Monday said that he had submitted a formal application to the court during the previous hearing.
This application requested that the audio and video recordings of the statements made by Rahul Gandhi, which have been presented as evidence, be matched with Rahul Gandhi's authentic voice.
Due to Vijay Mishra's absence, the court has scheduled the next hearing for March 27, when the arguments in the case will be presented.
On February 20, Gandhi, the MP from Raebareli, had appeared before the court and recorded his statement, claiming the case was filed against him due to political vendetta. He had also told the court that the audio and video evidence submitted by the complainant was incorrect and said he would present his own evidence.
The case stems from Gandhi's alleged objectionable remarks against then BJP president Amit Shah during the 2018 Karnataka election campaign.
Following the remarks, Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj under Kotwali Dehat police station area in Sultanpur, filed the defamation complaint.
In December 2023, the court had issued a warrant against Gandhi after he failed to appear before it. He later surrendered before the court in February 2024 and was granted bail on two surety bonds of Rs 25,000 each.
