The political blame game over the amended Citizenship Act continued to play out even as multiple protests against it unfolded across the Capital on Thursday.
Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal expressed “extreme worry” in regard to the law and order situation in the country as AAP also urged citizens to not to resort to violence and carry out protests against the Act peacefully.
Tiwari’s invite
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari invited Mr. Kejriwal and his counterpart from the Congress, Subhash Chopra, for a public reading of the Act at Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday. Mr. Chopra accused both the AAP and BJP of seeking to “harm peace and harmony” and affecting a “curfew-like situation” in the city in a bid to “gain political mileage.”
“There is fear among the people belonging to all religions and faiths as to what they will do when they will be asked to produce papers to prove their citizenship. The poor in our country do not possess such papers... nearly 70% of them would not have such papers. As a consequence, these people would be told to leave the country. Where will they go?” Mr. Kejriwal said. The Chief Minister further appealed “with folded hands” to the BJP-led Centre to repeal it.
In response, Mr. Tiwari invited Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Chopra for a public reading of the Act. “I will read the Act in their presence. If there are issues with it, they should point those out. The CAA seeks to bestow and not snatch citizenship... then why are Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Chopra trying to mislead our Muslim brothers in relation to it?” he said.
Addressing a meeting of the District and Block Congress Committee presidents, Mr. Chopra alleged that a curfew-like situation was prevailing in Delhi and that the common people were “now afraid to step out of their homes”.
“The closing down of metro stations and heavy traffic jams across the Capital have created a very disturbing situation... with the declaration of Section 144 in Delhi, people cannot step out of their houses and the Capital is in the grip of fear and insecurity,” Mr. Chopra alleged.
AAP shadow-boxing
AAP, he added, were “shadow-boxing to get a political upper hand” in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
