AMN / WEB DESK
The Opposition on Monday slammed the central government after it issued notification of implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
While the Congress said that the decision to notify the rules for the CAA was “designated to polarise the elections”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called it a “show-off before the elections”. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the CPM government won’t implement the CAA in the state.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the decision of the Centre to notify the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act just before the elections is “designed to polarise the elections”.
“After seeking nine extensions for the notification of the rules, the timing right before the elections is evidently designed to polarise the elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam,” he said in a post on X.
The Prime Minister claims that his Government works in a business-like and time-bound manner. The time taken to notify the rules for the CAA is yet another demonstration of the Prime Minister’s blatant lies,” Jairam Ramesh said.
He further said that the decision to notify the rules of the CAA, which was passed by the Parliament over four years ago, could also be “an attempt to manage the headlines” after the Supreme Court’s order on the electoral bonds.
WHAT IS CAA?
The CAA, which was passed on December 11, 2019, would provide a fast-track pathway to Indian citizenship for migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, who are from Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian communities and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 due to religious persecution in their home countries.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said that the implementation of the CAA just a few days before the announcement of the general elections was done “for political reasons”.
Calling it a “show-off before elections”, she said, “This law was passed in 2020. After multiple extensions in four years, its implementation two to three days before the election announcement shows that it is being done for political reasons.”
However, the TMC chief said that she had not received the notification and hence, she doesn’t know “what the rules say”. “After reading all the rules, I will speak about them in detail at the Howrah meeting tomorrow,” she said.
“If there is any discrimination, be it religion, caste or even language, we won’t accept it,” Mamata Banerjee said.
She added, “If they cancel the citizenship of anyone through CAA and NRC, we will not be quiet. We will protest against it.” The Chief Minister said that she wouldn’t “accept the National Register of Citizens (NRC) at any cost”.
“We will not allow them to put people in detention camps using the CAA. We don’t want any unrest before the elections. We don’t want the BJP to create any trap,” she said. “Whenever there is an attempt to seize anyone’s rights, TMC will stand in their way,” she added.
WON’T IMPLEMENT CAA IN KERALA, SAYS PINARAYI VIJAYAN
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the “action” of the Centre to notify the CAA ahead of the elections “is to disturb the country”.
“The (Kerala) government has repeated many times that it will not implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, which treats Muslim minorities as second-class citizens. That is still the bottom line. All of Kerala will stand together in opposing this communal law,” he said in a statement.
BJP’s ‘GAME OF DISTRACTION POLITICS’, SAYS AKHILESH YADAV
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also commented on the implementation of the CAA and said that the people have “now understood BJP’s game of distraction politics”.
He said in a post on X, “When the citizens of the country are forced to go abroad for their livelihood, then what is the purpose of bringing ‘citizenship law’ for others? The public has now understood the BJP’s game of politics of distraction. The BJP government should explain why lakhs of citizens gave up their citizenship of the country during their 10 years of rule.”
He further said that “whatever may happen”, the BJP had to provide details about the electoral bonds on Tuesday and later about the PM Cares Fund as well.
MEANT ONLY TO TARGET MUSLIMS, SAYS OWAISI
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that the CAA is “meant to only target Muslims”, along with the NRC.
“…Give asylum to anyone who is persecuted but citizenship must not be based on religion or nationality. The govt should explain why it kept these rules pending for five years & why it’s implementing it now. Along with NPR-NRC, CAA is meant to only target Muslims, it serves no other purpose,” he said in a post on X.