West Bengal is likely to bring a resolution against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) within three to four days, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday.
Bengal might thus become the third state after Kerala and Punjab to move a resolution against the contentious act against which passive protests are on across the country. Both states — led by Pinarayi Vijayan and Amarinder Singh — have not only passed resolutions in their state Assemblies against CAA, but also moved Supreme Court challenging several provisions of the Act.
Banerjee talked to the journalists at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport before leaving for Siliguri to inaugurate the Uttarbanga Utsab there. The CM will start her anti-CAA rallies in the hills of north Bengal from January 22 as scheduled earlier.
Banerjee also said that the Centre should withdraw certain clauses from the National Population Register (NPR) form that is causing confusion among people. The Home Ministry on Friday said that the respondents may or may not choose to answer the question on their parents’ birthplace or simply say that they are not aware of the fact. But no one could be forced to answer the question, the Ministry has clarified. However, the CM questioned why the Ministry is not removing the parameters of birthplaces and dates of birth of one’s parents from the NPR form even as it is saying that providing data to these questions is not mandatory.
Banerjee urged the Opposition states as well as the states ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Northeast to scrutinise the law carefully. She said that there are many conditions in the NPR that are related to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is being deemed discriminatory by ordinary citizens and political parties alike. She cautioned the states to examine the law carefully before starting the process and also urged them to not participate in the exercise.
She accused the Centre of playing a “dangerous game” and asked the states of the Northeast to pass resolutions in their respective Assemblies together to withdraw the NPR. Earlier, the West Bengal Assembly had passed a resolution against NRC on September 6, 2019.
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