CAA rules implementation | Reactions

Several students of the B R Ambedkar University in New Delhi staged a demonstration against the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The protest was called by left-affiliated student outfits of the varsity, including the All India Students Association and the Students’ Federation of India.

Holding posters and banners with messages such as “Say no to CAA”, the students gathered on the campus and raised slogans against the implementation of the CAA. - PTI

Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan said that the CAA was unconstitutional, against human rights, and poses a challenge to the idea of India and accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his party of staying silent on the issue.

Mr. Vijayan alleged that the contentious legislation grants legal validity to religious discrimination, but the Congress was withdrawing from a united front against the CAA.

In addition, he said, the Congress and its national president Mallikarjun Kharge were yet to comment on the recent notification of the CAA rules. - PTI

The Congress-led UDF said that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was misleading the people by saying that the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 would not be implemented in the State.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the State assembly V.D. Satheesan said the CAA was a central law that has been passed by the Parliament and the rules under it have been notified.

“It is applicable everywhere in India. To say that it would not be implemented here is a falsehood. Such a statement has no relevance,” Mr. Satheesan said.

The Opposition leader said the CM should show some “sincerity” to the cause by withdrawing the cases against those who participated in the anti-CAA protests in 2019.

Thereafter, he should join the protest to prevent implementation of the CAA in the country, the LoP further said.

“Pursuing legal remedies against it [CAA] and holding protests to make them [Centre] withdraw it, are the only solutions. We cannot simply say that it would not be implemented here,” Mr. Satheesan said. — PTI

Pakistani Hindu refugees of Majnu-Ka-Tila have been asked to visit the Delhi High Court on or after March 19 for the registration process of citizenship, Pakistani Hindu refugee Dharamveer Solanki said.

Mr. Solanki said the process to register them as Indian citizens will be informed after they visit the court next week.

“We have been asked to visit the high court on or after March 19 for the registration process. One of the lawyers we know met us last night and informed this. Rest of the process to register ourselves will be informed after we visit court,” Mr. Solanki told PTI.

“We have been told that we will not be moved from Majnu-Ka-Tila area. Even several families here want the government to provide them with benefits here itself and develop the camp,” Mr. Solanki said. — PTI

Union Minister Rajnath Singh said people are being misled over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, asserting that the legislation would not take away the citizenship of anyone living in India.

Addressing a rally in Assam’s Barpeta, he said the CAA will grant citizenship to religiously persecuted people who came to India till 2014 from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. - PTI

Congress MP Nakul Nath on Thursday said the ruling BJP was bringing up issues like NRC (National Register of Citizens), CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and Article 370 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls to divert the attention of people.

Nakul Nath was the lone winner from the Congress from Madhya Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The son of senior leader and former chief minister Kamal Nath, he managed to win from Chhindwara and has been re-nominated from the seat by the opposition party.

“It is politics of diverting people’s attention. The BJP is misleading the public. They are not talking about issues concerning the people but about NRC, CAA, Article 370 to divert attention,” he told PTI.

He also slammed the BJP for routinely accusing the Congress of indulging in dynastic politics.

-PTI

Hindu and Sikh refugees living in various parts of Delhi staged a protest near Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Civil Lines residence, demanding an apology from him over his statements against the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

The protesters assembled near the Chandgiram Akhara and attempted to march towards Kejriwal’s bungalow but were stopped by police.

“The Narendra Modi government is giving us citizenship while Kejriwal is asking who will give us jobs and houses. He does not understand our pain,” said Panjuram, one of the protesters.

The protesters said Kejriwal should withdraw his statements against the CAA and refugees, and tender an apology.

-PTI

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the CAA is completely insignificant in Assam, from where there will be the “least number of applications” for Indian citizenship.

Mr. Sarma said the act is very clear that the cut-off date for application of citizenship is December 31, 2014, and in Assam, with the updation of the National Register of Citizens, people who applied for it and did not find their names in that list, will only apply for CAA.

“The NRC has the details of the number of people who have applied, and due to technology, all data will be available on the internet and nothing can be hidden. The data will be presented in Parliament,” he said.

-PTI

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for indulging in “vote bank politics” and asserted that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is all about giving “citizenship” to those who are persecuted on religious grounds in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

He further questioned the West Bengal Chief Minister for providing shelter to Rohingyas but not for those people who have been in the country for years.

“People like Mamata Banerjee provide shelter to Rohingyas and want refugee status for them and not for those who have been here for years. This isn’t good, it’s a vote bank politics,” he added.

-ANI

Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks that “NRC, CAA are different”, Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat slammed the Home Minister and said that the “division is in the DNA of people who belong to Sangh Pariwar.”

Earlier the Union Home Minister asserted that the NRC has nothing to do with the CAA adding that the CAA will be implemented in Assam and other parts of the country.

“Division is in the DNA of people who belong to Sangh Pariwar. Without division, they cannot survive. Their entire lifeline is of polarisation. Their entire lifeline is to spread hatred. Their entire lifeline is to create a rift among the people of India. Otherwise, why did Amit Shah ji not answer and why did he bring the rule of CAA after 5 years? Why did you bring the rule before the Lok Sabha elections, “ said Ms. Karat.

-ANI

Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s reported comments against him over the CAA, Delhi CM Kejriwal said the country is important.

“He (Shah) has called me corrupt, but I am not important, the country is important. He did not answer the questions raised by me. He only abused me,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said at a digital press conference.

At a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Kejriwal alleged that the implementation of the CAA ahead of the Lok Sabha polls was “dirty vote-bank politics” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and asserted that people want the law to be repealed.

-PTI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed the BJP-led Centre over the implementation of the CAA, saying an unimaginable number of people will come to India with the doors opening for minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

“A bigger migration than that in 1947 will happen due to the implementation of the CAA. There are 2.5 crore to 3 crore minorities in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. An unimaginable number of people will come to India if the doors are thrown open for the minorities of neighbouring countries,” he claimed.

-PTI

DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan asked the Centre what will happen to those living in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) who want to come back to India as they are all Muslims.

“Pakistan occupied Kashmir, which means the people living there are Indians. What will happen to those people who want to come back, they are all Muslims but aren’t they Indians? If they are not Indians are you playing double games?” he said.

“It shows their hatred towards Muslims. All their activities are only to show that Muslims don’t belong to this country. They don’t apply their minds while bringing any bill, that’s the problem,” he added.

-ANI

Congress General Secretary in Charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh said that the Union Government notified the rules of the CAA just one month before the 2024 Lok Sabha election to polarise the voters.

“It took four years and three months to frame rules for the CAA. We had put forward our opinion that, through this act, the Centre is giving citizenship based on religion. This is against the spirit of the constitution. But the government, through its majority, passed the bill. Normally, the rules are framed within six to one year of the enactment of the legislation. But here, it took 4 years and three months to frame the rules,” Ramesh told ANI.

Assam Director General of Police G.P. Singh has urged people protesting the CAA to resolve issues through peaceful and constitutional means rather than resorting to violence on the streets. Mr. Singh’s comments come amid security being beefed up across Assam.

The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO), the apex body of major student unions in the eight states of the region, had on Wednesday burnt copies of the rules of CAA, while the AASU staged ‘satyagraha’ in all district headquarters.

-PTI

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the CAA is “completely insignificant” in his State, from where there will be the “least number of applications” for Indian citizenship.

Mr. Sarma, speaking at a press conference, said the Act is very clear that the cut-off date for application of citizenship is December 31, 2014, and in Assam, with the updation of the National Register of Citizens, people who applied for it and did not find their names in that list, will only apply for CAA.

-PTI