Om Birla Asks EU Parliament To ‘Respect Sovereign Processes Of Fellow Legislatures’ On Moving CAA Resolution

With the European Union (EU) Parliament set to take up a resolution against India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which has been duly passed by the two houses of the Indian Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday (27 January) reached out to his EU counterpart, calling the development “inappropriate”, reports the Times of India.

In a letter to the President of the EU Parliament David Maria Sassoli, Speaker Birla expressed his disagreement with the EU legislature passing a judgment on the decision of another legislature.

Speaker Birla called upon the need for the EU parliamentarians to respect the sovereign processes of fellow legislatures, especially in the case of democracies. He pressed that the CAA was a legislation brought about to grant easier citizenship to religious persecuted minorities in India's neighbourhood.

Birla said, “As members of the Inter Parliamentary Union, we should respect the sovereign processes of fellow legislatures, especially in democracies. It is inappropriate for one legislature to pass judgement on another, a practice that can surely be misused by vested interests.”

As reported earlier today, Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu also hit out at the EU lawmakers, saying India did not need any advice or guidance and there was no scope for outside interference in New Delhi’s internal matters.

“Such efforts are totally uncalled for and unwarranted and I hope that they would refrain from making such statements in future,” Naidu said at a book launch event in Delhi.

He added that India was capable of addressing the concerns of its citizens and needs “no advice or guidance in such matters from others”.

The said resolution has been tabled by the European Union Left/Nordic Green Left Group. It is now set to be taken up for a debate on Wednesday (29 January), post which it would be voted upon on Thursday (30 January).