CHANDIGARH: Terming the amended citizenship law discriminatory Congress leader Rajeev Shukla said that Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is against the poor people and the Congress is against both National Register of Citizens (NRC) and CAA.
Shukla accused the BJP of creating divisions in the society for political gains.
"There have been spontaneous protests in universities, IITs, IIMs and other leading academic institutions throughout the country against the divisive agenda and anti-people policies of the BJP government. Can anyone mislead them? They are all educated people. If they are saying something, that means there is
something wrong, but the government is not prepared to listen,’’ he said.
He said, "The BJP wants to create divisions in the society for its own political gains.’’ He claimed that the proposed nationwide NRC would particularly hurt the poor and vulnerable sections of the society.
Shukla said, "There is fear and apprehension among people about NRC. Enforcement of NRC means people will have to dig out birth, school and other certificates of their forefathers to prove citizenship. Only 1000 Bangladeshis were deported in five years.’’
He said that nobody has stopped deportation of illegal Bangladeshis. He questioned, "Why Srilankan Hindus not being given citizenship?"
Some of the BJP's own allies too have expressed concerns about NRC, he said, "If NRC is about identifying those who entered the country or settled here illegally, already there are laws to deal with that.
"Anybody who enters or has entered the country illegally can be sent back, who stops the government from doing so? But what they are doing through this exercise is creating divisions in society for polarisation of votes.’’
Shukla said, "All should follow the path of non-violence in protests as shown by Mahatma Gandhi.’’