IT News
Mumbai Dec 22
While anti and pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) rallies continued in Maharashtra, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that the Maharashtra Government should refuse to implement new citizenship law since it would hurt the religious and social harmony of India.
Speaking to media after attending “Bhimthadi Jatra”, an annual affair in Pune, Pawar said that 8 NDA rules states, including Bihar, have refused to implement the law. Besides Bihar, states of Kerala, Punjab, West Bengal and Rajasthan have also opposed the CAA implementation. As such Maharashtra also should take a similar stand. But if the states oppose the Union government’s order, there is a likelihood that it may dismiss these state governments, Pawar hastened to add.
The NCP is a ruling constituent, along with the Congress, in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government headed by the Shiv Sena. Earlier Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena) had said that implementation of the CAA will be dependent upon the ruling of the Supreme Court and had added that.”We are checking legality of the new law and waiting to find out whether the new act fits the framework of Constitution or not, since some people have challenged the CAA in the SC”.
Pawar also questioned selective grant of citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan under CAA while excluding Sri Lankan Tamils. “Is it because Sri Lankan Tamils don’t belong to a particular religion?” he asked.
“As per the Act, people from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come to India till December 31, 2014 owing to their religious persecution will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be given Indian citizenship”. There are many Nepalis working as domestic helps in many establishments in Maharashtra, Pawar said and added that two Nepali staff members have been looking after his official residence in New Delhi for the last 30 years.
Pawar said that the Union government was misusing its power and avoiding the dialogue with the stakeholders. In fact it should clarify things so that peace is restored.
In the meanwhile on Saturday evening hundreds of people congregated outside Dadar railway station in Central Mumbai in support of the contentious CAA and raised slogans hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the occasion, the organisers–‘Sanvidhan Sanman Manch’–appealed to the citizens to peacefully support the CAA and proposed NRC (National Register of Citizens) exercise. “We just put up the poster with the message ‘I support CAA’ and students came forward to sign,” the organiser Harshad Kulkarni said.
The pro- CAA rallied were also held in Thane, Kalyan, Navi Mumbai and Panvel. Senior citizens to youngsters shouted slogans and displayed placards expressing their support. Some also distributed pamphlets explaining how CAA is beneficial. In Kalyan, students held a drive outside Birla College to collect signatures in support of CAA. “Around 250 students signed the banner.
However the anti-CAA rallies organised in Bhiwandi (by a group of Congress workers), Nanded, Parbhani, Hingoli,Jalna, Beed, Solapur, Buldhana, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur and Gondia out numbered pro-CAA rallies.
The biggest rally took place in Buldhana town, where around 10,000 people marched 1.5 km to the district collector’s office and submitted a memorandum of their demands. Whereas 20 people were detained and 130 booked in Hingoli for allegedly damaging public property and rioting during protests. Similar pro and anti-CAA rallies were slated to be held in late Sunday evening in Mumbai.
