CAA rules spark political slugfest

Subhasish Mitra (Wide Angle)

CAA rules have once again stirred the hornet's nest. The implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, popularly known as CAA, has triggered a political slugfest across the country.

 

On expected lines, the BJP has accused opposition parties of stoking communal passion over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and asked them to stop spreading "lies" about the new law.

 

On the other hand, opposition parties escalated their attack on the Narendra Modi government over its implementation, especially just days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.

 

As anti-CAA protests intensified in Assam and Kerala, former Union law minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed opposition leaders like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee and maintained that CAA-2019 does not take away citizenship of any Indian or jobs.

 

Prasad's reference was to Kejriwal's "strange statement" that the BJP government at the Centre, which can't provide jobs to Indians, wants to give employment to those coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

 

"What kind of nonsense is this to bring people from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to India and give the rightful employment of our children to them," Kejriwal had charged at a news conference earlier in the day.

 

The CAA that seeks to grant citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014 was rolled out recently, prompting the AAP leader to allege that with CAA, the BJP-led government at the Centre has opened the floodgates for the arrival of a large number of poor minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh into India.

 

Amid all the blame game, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has made it clear that the CAA is about granting citizenship and that no citizen of the country will lose citizenship due to it. Why are opposition parties spreading propaganda (on CAA)? he asked.

 

The West Bengal Chief Minister asserted that CAA-2019 is linked with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and that is the reason why she is opposing the new legislation.

 

The TMC supremo claimed that the CAA is a "political gimmick" ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

 

Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala -- M K Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan -- have also strongly opposed the CAA.

 

Union Minister and senior BJP leader Anurag Thakur also lashed out at the opponents of the CAA, saying thousands of Dalit families from the neighbouring countries, now living in India, were waiting 

waiting for citizenship. The CAA is a law for providing citizenship and not for taking it away, he asserted.

 

On his part, former law minister Prasad explained that the law is for those minorities who were persecuted in the three neighbouring countries because of their religious faith. These people have been living a tough life in India,he said, and asked if the country is not morally, culturally and constitutionally right in granting them citizenship.

 

Prasad claimed that Banerjee is on a slippery ground and this is forcing her to give the issue a communal colour. He also urged the parties in south India, "especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu", to stop spreading hatred based on falsehood.

 

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also lashed out at opposition parties, claiming "there is no humanity left in them". Rai, a senior BJP leader, also asserted that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "fulfilled his own promise" with the notification of CAA, the opposition was indulging in "appeasement politics" and acting out of "vote bank concerns".

 

The North East Students' Organisation (NESO), the apex body of major student unions of the eight states of the northeastern region, burnt copies of the CAA rules across the region and demanded immediate repeal of the law.

 

Activists of Raijor Dal, Bir Lachit Sena and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) organised a march in Sivasagar in Guwahati, but were stopped by the police, leading to a minor scuffle.

 

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee(KPCC) organised a dharna in front of the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram, with the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly V D Satheesan alleging that the BJP-led government issued the CAA notification to divide the people along communal lines.

 

Several leaders of the Congress party, including UDF convenor and senior party leader M M Hassan, CWC member and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, and Attingal MP Adoor Prakash, took part in the dharna.

 

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Centre's decision to notify the CAA rules is a "gimmick" keeping Lok Sabha polls in mind, and the state government will take a decision regarding its implementation in the state after going through it.