'CAA caused irreparable damage to India's image globally': Akhilesh Yadav

Passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, (CAA) has caused "irreparable damage" to India, said former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday. He took to Twitter and mentioned how passing of CAA has tarnished India's image internationally and set off protests in a few countires across the world.

Akhilesh Yadav on CAA

Read: AIADMK MP Mohammed John expelled from Muslim Jamaath Council for voting in favour of CAA

His tweet translates to, "CAA has caused irreparable damage to our country's image . Protests have also taken place in many renowned universities of the world. There are also reports of international airlines banning flights. BJP's monarchy is very unfortunate for the future of the country". 

Read: Bangladesh's Foreign Minister postponed trip to India due to domestic issues: MEA

Samajwadi Party's stand on CAA

Akhilesh Yadav had earlier clarified Samajwadi Party's stand on Citizenship Act before it was passed by the two Houses of th Parliuament. During that time, he said, "Neither has the farmers' income doubled nor has the Ganga River been cleaned. Neither there is an improvement in the economy, nor black money has come back, and the government has not even been able to save the country's daughters. As I said earlier their politics is to divert attention and divide the society. Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is an insult to India and Samajwadi party will oppose the bill."

Read: Mayawati shows solidarity with student protesters, says "party is with victims"

What is the Citizenship (Amendment) Act?

The Act which was passed in both the houses seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they will not be considered as illegal migrants.

Additionally, the mandatory residence period for naturalised citizenship for these communities would be reduced to 5 years. Several parties in the North East such as the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) have been vehemently opposed to this Act. To ameliorate their concerns, the Centre has exempted a major part of the North East from the ambit of the CAA. The opposition contends that the Act discriminates on the basis of religion, which might go against Article 14 which guarantees the right to equality.  

Read: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh join five strong list of anti-CAB states