Ahead of tabling of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha on Monday, the Shiv Sena has questioned whether "selective acceptance" of Hindu illegal immigrants will act as a trigger for a religious war in the country and accused the Centre of apparently doing an"invisible partition" of Hindus and Muslims over the bill.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party also said "vote bank politics" under the garb of the bill (CAB) is not in the interest of the country. In an editorial in the party mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Sena also raised the timing of the bill saying, "There is no dearth of problems in India now but still we are inviting new ones such as CAB. It looks like the Centre has made an invisible partition of Hindus and Muslims over the bill".The Sena, which has 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha, also pointed out that most of the states from the North East region have opposed the CAB along with Bihar where the BJP is sharing power with the JD(U), and West Bengal.At the same time, the Sena has appealed to Prime Minister Narednra Modi to take astrong action against some neighbouring countries that torture Hindus like he had taken against Pakistan. "It is true that there is no other country for Hindus except Hindustan. But by accepting only Hindus among the illegal immigrants..will it be a trigger of a religious war in the country?" the Sena questioned.

"If someone is trying to do a vote bank politics under the garb of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill then it is not in the interest ofthe country," it said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will introduce the bill that seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees fromPakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution there.

The edit said, "Like Pakistan, PM Modi should teach astrong lesson to other neighbouring countries torturing the communities likeHindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis and Jains". The Sena, which parted wayswith the BJP recently to form a government with rivals NCP and Congress inMaharashtra, said the PM has already shown that certain things are"mumkin" (possible).

"Now, he should ensure that these communities won'thave to leave their respective countries with his similar adventurous actions.This would help in strengthening the country's internal security as well,"the edit said apparently referring to the surgical strike and Balakot airstrike.

The Sena, however, said the illegal immigrants staying inIndia should be sent back to their countries of origin, a stated position ofthe BJP. "The exact number of such illegal immigrants should be known. Ifit is in lakhs then where are they going to be settled in India?" askedthe saffron party.

"In Islamic countries, minority Hindus are treated assecond class citizens, girls are kidnapped and assaulted and sometimes thereare forced conversions," the Sena said.

"Most of the states from the NE region have opposed theCAB besides states like Bihar where the BJP is sharing power with the JD(U),chiefly because immigrants are seen as threat to their regional culture. WestBengal is another major state opposing the bill," it said.

The Sena said the number of illegal immigrants inMaharashtra is already putting a lot of pressure on local bodies, in providingcivic amenities. "In such a scenario, states like Gujarat and Karnataka willhave to play a major and humanitarian role to accommodate theseimmigrants," the Sena said in a dig at the BJP which is in power in boththe states.

The Sena also fired another veiled barb at the BJP over"non-settlement" of Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir. "Itis not clear whether they (Pandits) would go back to Jammu and Kashmir evenafter abrogation of Article 370. Will the Centre resettle the illegalimmigrants from neighbouring countries in J&K as it is now officiallyintegrated with the rest of the country?" it asked.