The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which discriminates against people based on their religion, has drawn the ire of the Trinamool Congress, the CPM, and the Congress on Tuesday. They claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments were an attempt to polarise Gujarati voters ahead of the Assembly elections and that the new law will cause social divisions.
Modi stated on Sunday that the CAA bill was an endeavour by the Centre to grant citizenship to Sikh and Hindu families who were affected by Partition.
“The present system in the country has provisions to attain citizenship. Now a new system like the CAA will only create a division among people as it discriminates people on the basis of religion. To stop infiltration, the border security must be improved. But when it comes to granting citizenship, the Centre adopting a discriminatory approach. The people of Bengal will not allow such laws to be implemented here.”
“Citizenship cannot be granted based on a person’s religion. The Constitution of the country does not allow such a thing. It goes against the ethos of the country. This is nothing but an attempt to polarise the people of Gujarat ahead of the Assembly polls.”
“The country witnessed Partition 75 years ago. Are those staying in the country for last 75 years not citizens of India? If not then who creates such a situation? They have been used as vote bank for so long. Now after not recongnising them citizens for so long, the Centre is now talking about granting them citizenship. It is nothing but politics,” said Chakraborty.
“Sikhs have gone through unimaginable pain during Partition. They have seen exodus of their people and their history is full of sacrifices. They deserve citizenship and the Centre is determined to give them their rights,” said BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.