After BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, asserted on November 2 that West Bengal will not be left out of the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a new controversy broke out in the state.
Adhikari’s remark was made a day after the central government planned to offer Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Act of 1955 to minorities, the majority of whom are from Pakistan and reside in the Gujarati districts of Anand and Mehsana.
Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians living in the Gujarati districts of Anand and Mehsana will be able to register as Indian citizens under Section 5 or receive certificates of naturalization under Section 6 of the Citizenship Act of 1955, as well as in accordance with the rules outlined in the Citizenship Rules of 2009.
Adhikari, however, asserted that this choice was made as the Union government began enforcing the CAA, in 2019.
Trinamool Congress (TMC), Congress, and CPI leaders all criticized Adhikari for his remarks (M).
The spokesperson for the TMC, Kunal Ghosh, asserted that the West Bengali government will never permit the CAA to take effect there.
Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury echoed Ghosh’s thoughts when he questioned why some refugees were being left out.
The CAA was implemented in 2019 but was faced with huge nationwide protests. It gives fast-tracked citizenship to non-Muslims who entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Bangladesh before 2015. No one has been granted citizenship under the Act thus far since the Center has not yet established the regulations that will govern it.
News Mania Desk
