After the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on March 11 notified the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she would oppose it if it discriminated against groups of people.
Stating that the CAA and the NRC are sensitive to West Bengal and the Northeast, Banerjee said she doesn't want unrest before the Lok Sabha elections.
"You should have notified the rules six months ago. If there are any good things, we always support and appreciate but if anything is done that is not good for the country, TMC will always raise its voice and oppose it. I know why today's date was chosen before Ramazan. I appeal to the people to be calm and avoid any rumors,” she said.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh said the decision of the Centre to notify the rules for the CAA 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 Act was passed in December 2019 and led to nationwide protests. It seeks to fast-track Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — but not Muslims — who migrated to India owing to religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah had recently said that the CAA was an act of the country. He assured the minorities that the law would not snatch away anyone's citizenship.
“The CAA is an act of the country… It will be notified before the polls. There should be no confusion around it. Minorities in our country, and especially our Muslim community, are being provoked… The CAA cannot snatch away anyone's citizenship because there is no provision in the Act. The CAA is an act to provide citizenship to refugees who were persecuted in Bangladesh and Pakistan,” Shah said at a recent business event.
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