Following his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray reiterated his stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act. Thackeray said that the new Citizenship Law provides citizenship to the beleaguered minorities from the neighbouring countries and not a statute to snatch the citizenship of Indians.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray: This law (CAA) is not to take away citizenship from anyone. However, this law is about giving citizenship to the minorities of the neighboring countries. https://t.co/XlQk8FbrAW
— ANI (@ANI) February 21, 2020
Speaking at a press conference after his meet with PM Modi, Thackeray said, “We have had a discussion on Citizenship Amendment Act, NPR and NRC. I have already stated my stance on these in Saamana. No one should be scared of CAA. This law is not to take away citizenship from anyone but about granting citizenship to the minorities of the neighbouring countries.”
Uddhav also added in the press conference that PM Modi has assured him that there won’t be countrywide NRC, a major bone of contention against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Regarding the ongoing protests against the CAA and NPR, Uddhav added that the demonstrations are taking place because people are being instigated to wage agitation against the new citizenship law.
Regarding a letter written by the Maharashtra CM to the Centre seeking “legitimate dues” of Rs 15,558.05 crore towards the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation until November 2019, the Maha Vikas Aghadi leader said, the state is getting the returns but the speed at which it is getting is very slow. “PM Modi has promised to extend all cooperation to Maharashtra government,” he added.
Thackeray’s endorsement of the CAA comes a couple of days after he announced that he wouldn’t block the NPR in Maharashtra. “CAA and NRC are two different concepts. Nobody should worry about CAA. NPR will happen in the state as there is nothing controversial about it,” Thackeray had said.
While parties like Congress and NCP continue to protest against CAA by spreading falsehood about it, their alliance partner in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena’s support for it has created an embarrassing situation for them.
