All of them expressed the view that both the measures were against the spirit and letter of the Constitution. They questioned why the Citizenship Act has not covered Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and even Nepal. It would have been better, it was said, if the basis of the Citizenship Act would have been political persecution rather than religious. Speakers said that the move is aimed to facilitate the creation of Hindu Rashtra. Just how much people are angry over the measure is clear by the fact that people continued to listen to speeches despite torrential rains and covered themselves with chairs.

Masood in his hour-long speech asked Madhya Pradesh Government not to enforce NRC in the state. He declared that if it is done he would not hesitate to quit the assembly.

Arif Aqueel, the solitary Muslim minister, using very strong language, declared: “Sabhi ke bujurgo ka khoon shamil hai isko (country) banane main. Tumhare baap ka Hindustan nahi hai. Koi hamara baal baka nahi kar sakta. Hum yehan the, yehan rahenge aur marenge bhi toh yehin par. (Let them make laws. The blood of ancestors of all communities went into building this nation. India is not anyone’s ancestral property. No one can harm us. We were here, will be here and when we die, that too will happen here in India.)”

However, members of the Sindhi community celebrated the passing of Citizenship Amendment Act, saying now they finally feel like citizens rather than outsiders.

“We are very grateful to the government for passing CAB. The whole Sindhi community will benefit from it. Our identities will not be questioned now,” said president of Sindhi Community and former bureaucrat Bhagwan Dev Israni. The community believes that with the CAB becoming a law, all cases regarding citizenship going on in courts will also be disposed of, granting them right to be called Indians.

Community members gathered at Roshanpura square to celebrate CAB. “There are around 5,000 cases regarding citizenship and ownership of property and vehicles by immigrants going on in courts in MP. All these cases will be disposed of and citizens will be given the right to own property, vehicles, raise their families and children like citizens, instead of living in fear that they will be deprived of their rights as they have not been recognized as citizens of the country. This is great news and we are grateful to the government,” Israni added.

The Act provides them the right to re-issue passports and other documents, or make new ones from scratch if they have been lost. Sindhi community members said.

“Section 6D of CAB gives immigrants the right to get their documents anew or apply for duplicate ones. This will solve the problem of not having proper identity cards and documents for many people who migrated to India many years ago and have lost their documents in riots or accidents. All those people will finally be able to apply for new documents and be identified as citizens of India, instead of being treated like illegal immigrants or refugees, said Israni. (IPA Service)