‘Will oppose CAA if…’: Mamata Banerjee’s first reaction after Citizenship Amendment Act implemented

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she would oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) if it discriminates against groups of people. Her statement comes moments after the Home Ministry notified the Act. 

The CM asserted the CAA and the NRC are sensitive to West Bengal and the Northeast, adding she does not want unrest before the Lok Sabha elections.

“Let me be very clear that we will oppose anything that discriminates people. Let them bring out the rules, then we will speak on the issue after going through the rules,” she said while addressing a hurriedly called press conference at the state secretariat in Kolkata.

What is CAA?

With the CAA rules being issued, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India till December 31, 2014.

These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.

The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently got the president’s assent but there were protests in several parts of the country against it. Over a hundred people lost their lives during the anti-CAA protests or police action.

According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, the rules for any legislation should be framed within six months of presidential assent or the government has to seek an extension from the Committees on Subordinate Legislation in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Since 2020, the Home Ministry has been taking extensions at regular intervals from the parliamentary committee for framing the rules. The Ministry of Home Affairs has readied a portal for the convenience of the applicants as the entire process will be online. The applicants will have to declare the year when they entered India without travel documents. No document will be sought from the applicants, an official said.

Also read: Congress party’s first reaction after Centre notifies CAA rules across India