Lambasting the Narendra Modi government for “creating confusion” over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register for Citizens (NRC), Congress leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot, said on Thursday that many constituents of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) too were opposed to the NRC exercise.
Mr. Pilot also criticised the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP for creating a climate of insecurity over this controversial legislation and failing to address the real bread-butter issues of the common people.
“The Shiromani Akali Dal, the BJP’s oldest ally in the Punjab, has declared its opposition to the NRC, while Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy has made it clear today that he is not willing to implement it in Andhra Pradesh. Chief Ministers Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar and Naveen Patnaik in Orissa, too, have categorically stated their opposition to the NRC exercise. The Centre still has time to rethink on this to roll back the implementation of the CAA and the NRC,” he said, speaking at the Congress Bhavan here.
Mr. Pilot also accused the Centre of doublespeak over the NRC, and said the Prime Minister and Union Cabinet Ministers were making different statements, adding to the confusion and stoking fumes of unrest and fear among people.
“The Centre must come clean on what it wants to do instead of coming out with claims and counter-claims, given the widespread opposition to the CAA-NRC which has transcended barriers of State, religion and age-groups,” he said.
Mr. Pilot accused the BJP of steamrolling the CAA in Parliament on the brute strength of its numbers purely to divert the country’s attention from raging unemployment and pressing economic problems.
“At a time of economic slowdown and farmer suicides, political capital is being expended on this. The question which has naturally arisen in the people’s minds is why is all this being done now when there is no foreseeable emergency before the country necessitating such legislation,” he said, urging the Centre to stop indulging in such “divisive politics” and instead proactively address issues like unemployment and the economic slump.
Flaying the Centre for its sheer insensitivity, he said that no one [from the Modi government] was willing to hold a proper dialogue with the youth.
“As a result, we are witnessing agitations across college campuses in the country. Instead of communicating with them, the government is busy threatening them. Internet services are being suspended and leaders are being detained,” he said, remarking that Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were prevented by the Uttar Pradesh police from entering Meerut when they tried to meet the families of those killed in violence during the anti-CAA protests.
While acknowledging that it was the Congress-United Progressive Alliance (UPA) which had conceived of the National Population Register (NPR), Mr. Pilot stressed there was “a vast difference” between that version and the one approved by the BJP government.
“Yes, the Congress brought NPR. But there is a massive difference between our intent and emphasis and that of the BJP’s…I fear the BJP’s NPR will be the first step towards the NRC and there will be no discussion in the Cabinet, given the Modi regime’s secretive way of implementing such measures,” he said, accusing the Prime Minister of sidestepping the issue over the proposed NRC exercise and creating more chaos.
Mr. Pilot pointed out that almost every political party, besides the BJP, was out on the streets today protesting the CAA-NRC.
“This is not about being a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, but about the Constitution. It is wrong to deny citizenship on the basis of religion,” said Mr. Pilot, who is also president of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC).
On the crisis in the agrarian sector, he said the Centre was not worried about rising onion prices, but was eager to implement such divisive legislation.
“The glaring facts are that country’s GDP has hit a new low while unemployment is the highest in the last 40 years. The Budget is coming and yet the Centre has taken no concrete steps to prevent the economy going into a tailspin,” Mr. Pilot said.
He said that while personally he favoured removing infiltrators, there are enough documents which they need to prove citizenship. At the same time, Mr. Pilot condemned the violence and destruction to public property during the anti-CAA protests.
“It is wrong to take the law into one’s own hands. No one has the right to do this,” he said.
