No detention camps in Maharashtra: CM Uddhav Thackeray

Amidst growing protests against the CAA-NRC, the new Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra has clarified that there is no detention centre in the state and Muslims need not worry.

The assurance has come from MVA leader and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, when a delegation of Muslim leaders, religious scholars and community leaders called on him on Monday.

The previous BJP-led government headed by Devendra Fadnavis had given a go-ahead for a detention centre, in August this year.

However, the current Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress MVA government has made it clear that there are no such plans. The development assumes significance in the wake of recent nationwide protests against CAA-NRC.

“The CM has categorically given this assurance to a delegation of Muslim leaders on Monday, and also in the legislature last week, and while interacting with a group of protestors in Nagpur,” said Samajwadi Party state President Abu Asim Azmi, who is part of the MVA alliance.

Thackeray has clarified that the detention centre was intended only for temporary lodging of foreign nationals involved in breaking Indian laws or those whose passports/visas have expired, before they are sent back to their respective countries.

“The detention centre has a capacity of around 35… The CM made it clear that it is not meant for Muslims as is being sought to portray. Muslims in the state having nothing to worry about CAA-NRC and should not fall prey to any kind of falsehoods,” Azmi said.

“The CM has said that there are no detention centres for Muslims, as apprehended in some quarters, nor will any such detention camps for Muslims be allowed to come up in future. The so-called centre coming up in Navi Mumbai is for entirely different purposes,”said Mumbai NCP President and former state Labour Minister Nawab Malik.

Senior Congress leader and former Minority Affairs Minister Naseem Khan said that the MVA functions under the common minimum programme. "It has been unanimously decided that anything pertaining to the CAA-NRC which goes against the Muslim in the state, will not be allowed at any cost,” Khan said.