After Kerala, the Congress-led Punjab government on Friday passed a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state assembly.
Reportedly, the resolution was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra during the second day of the special session of the House. Moving the resolution, Mohindra claimed that the new citizenship law passed by the Parliament in December has “caused countrywide anguish and social unrest in the country including Punjab”.
Aam Aadmi Party, which is the principal Opposition party in the state, supported the resolution, while Shiromani Akali Dal opposed the resolution. Lok Insaf Party (LIP) MLAs Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains also supported the resolution.
After Kerala, Punjab is the second state to pass a resolution against the CAA. On December 31st, the Pinarayi Vijayan headed Kerala government had passed a resolution demanding the scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
In addition to passing a resolution, the Kerala government has also moved to the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019. The Kerala government had filed a petition in the apex court even without informing the Governor of the state stoking a controversy.
The resolution also called for the inclusion of Muslims in the CAA for granting citizenship. The Congress party legislators stated that they were against the implementation of a National Register of Citizens (NRC).
“It is divisive and stands for everything as opposed to a free and fair democracy, which must enshrine equality for all. Alongside the religion-based discrimination in granting citizenship, it is apprehended that the CAA is also likely to endanger the linguistic and cultural identity of some sections of our people. CAA also envisages cancellation of the registration of Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders, if they violate any law,” the resolution said.
The historic Citizenship Amendment Act provides for granting citizenship for six persecuted minorities – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from three neighbouring Islamic countries Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is applicable for those refugees who have migrated to India before December 31, 2014.
Contrary to what the opposition political parties and propagandist have been outraging about, there have been no changes in the normal process for a citizenship application for persons of any faith or country of origin.
