In West Bengal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) have squared off by reigniting the debate over proffering Indian citizenship to minorities facing persecution in neighbouring countries.
After Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah made a statement last week about the Centre being committed to implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), TMC has made its stand. TMC’s National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee spoke on Wednesday against the CAA, during his visit to Assam.
The CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) have been prominent issues for political parties; they have points of contention specifically during the recent election campaigns in Assam and West Bengal.
Shah, who visited West Bengal after a long gap, had announced that the CAA would be implemented in the state as soon as the spread of Covid-19 eases. A substantial population of Hindus, who had immigrated from Bangladesh over the years, currently resides in the border districts of the state.
At the same time, there is a section of people who have been opposing the CAA’s implementation and the roll-out of NRC.
While Shah spoke of CAA execution, Banerjee questioned BJP’s intention regarding the Act in the party-ruled Assam. Alleging that the BJP leaders are using the legislation as “a carrot on a stick”, Banerjee said that while Shah talked about implementing the Act in Bengal, he remained categorically silent over the issue in Assam.
“If I can point out, the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in December 2019, and within a month, it came into force and became CAA. You usually need three-four months to formulate the rules of a new Act. However, it has been more than two and a half years and the central government has sought six extensions but is still unable to form the rules of the CAA,” Banerjee commented.
The Trinamool leader reiterated: “Our standpoint on CAA is clear: we oppose this draconian Bill. There are no two ways about it.”
CAA is a “political tool and we should not get into this trap,” Banerjee said.
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