Published 15:41 IST, December 17th 2019
BJP protest against Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh in Amritsar
The State unit of the party is leading protests because the CM has said that he will not be implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the State
The Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) HAS led a protest in Amritsar against Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's decision to not implement the Citizenship Amendment Act which was cleared in the Parliament on December 11.
Protests against Punjab CM
Amritsar's party unit Vice President Jarnail Singh said that the decision of the CM wasn't right and that he should not be interfering with the decisions made by the Parliament. CM Singh has said that the Act is against the fabric of the country and will not allow it to tear the fabric of the country, whose strength lies in diversity. He's said that the Act is a "direct assault on the country's secular character".
The Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in the Parliament last week after intense discussions in both the Houses which went on for more than 10 hours. The government has repeatedly claimed that the Act is not discriminatory in nature and will not be of any threat to Muslims.
Multiple protests have broken out across the country against the CAA, which allows non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to seek residence in India.
The protests have erupted in different regions in the country, including New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc. In the national capital, the protests took a violent turn on Sunday evening, when the city police allegedly barged into the campus of Jamia Milia University, beating up students and entering the library, canteen, washroom, as well as the residential wings of both, girls and boys. Many of them were allegedly detained by the police on Sunday evening and were released only around 3:30 am on Monday after a huge crowd had gathered outside the Police headquarters.
On Monday afternoon, PM Modi took to twitter to address the country on the issue and gave an assurance that the CAA had nothing to do with any citizen of India, irrespective of religion. He emphasised that the legislation was only aimed at helping persecuted individuals in other countries. Warning against rumours, he stressed that it was time to maintain peace and work together for the development of India.
Updated 16:17 IST, December 17th 2019