New Delhi: The newly amended Citizenship law has sparked fissures within the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United), with the party's minority cell general secretary Shahid Khawaja tendering his resignation on Friday over the chief minister's stand on the contentious issue, according to news agency ANI.
JD(U), an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), voted in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in both Houses of the Parliament.
Khawaja becomes the first JD(U) leader to quit over the contentious law, but his resignation is yet to be accepted.
“The decision of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was against the party’s constitution, which supported secularism,” said Khawaja, according to Hindustan Times. “I am peeved at his decision to support the Act.”
Khawaja added that many other party members would soon follow suit.
The resignation comes days after JD(U) Vice President Prashant Kishor voiced his concerns over the amended law and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Expressing disappointment over the party's decision to support the legislation, Kishor had offered to quit but his resignation was not accepted by Kumar.
After the Rajya Sabha passed the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 11, the country has erupted in large-scale protests, resulting in the death of more than 20 people. The Act provides Indian citizenship to six minority religious communities from neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, so long as they have entered India on or before December 31, 2014.