Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act have swept the country.
Highlights
- "CAA discriminates people on religious grounds," the resolution stated
- Several BJP leaders shouted slogans in favour of the law
- Earlier this week, the Supreme Court had refused to put CAA on hold
Congress-ruled Rajasthan today passed a resolution against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA in the state assembly urging centre to repeal the law amid countrywide protests. Rajasthan is the third state in the country to pass an anti-CAA resolution after Kerala and Punjab.
Several BJP leaders were seen rushing to the well of the house, shouting slogans in favour of the new citizenship law as the resolution was adopted.
The CAA that has been enacted by the parliament recently "is aimed at distinguishing illegal migrants on the basis of religion," the resolution says. "Such discrimination of people on the grounds of religion is not in consonance with the secular ideas enshrined in the Constitution and is clearly violative of the Article 14," it adds.
"This is the first time in the history of the country that a law has been enacted which discriminates people on religious grounds," the resolution further underscores.
"It is for this reason that the CAA has caused deep anguish and widespread protest all over the country," it says. The proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Assam have also been mentioned in the resolution. Over 19 lakh people in the state were excluded in the citizens' list released last year.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court had refused to put on hold the CAA. The court said it would not grant any stay without hearing the government as it gave the Centre four weeks to respond to petitions on the law.
The citizenship law, which makes religion a criterion for Indian citizenship, says non-Muslim minorities from Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan can become citizens easily if they fled religious persecution and entered India before December 31, 2014. Critics believe the CAA, along with the NRC or citizen's list, will be used to target Muslims.
Last month, Kerala became the first state to adopt an anti-CAA resolution that was supported by leaders across party lines except the lone BJP MLA - O Rajagopal. It was also the first state to move the top court against the law. The Congress-led Punjab government later followed as it called the CAA "inherently discriminatory and as far away as it can be from being a humanitarian measure."
In Bengal, a special session of the West Bengal Assembly has been summoned at 2 pm on January 27 to pass a resolution to scrap the law. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been protesting for the past few weeks against the CAA.