BHOPAL: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh said on Thursday that if the Supreme Court pronounced Citizenship (Amendment) Act 'constitutional', it would be the final nail in the coffin of secularism.
Singh made the statements at an interaction with journalists in Bhopal, just a day after the apex court refused to stay the CAA, declined to take note of protests and anti-CAA resolutions passed by the Kerala and Punjab state assemblies.
The top court’s three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) A Bobde said the large bunch of petitions would be heard by a five-judge Constitution bench and granted the Centre four weeks to file a detailed response.
Talking to media persons Singh said, “The Muslims in the country are in fear and disappointed with the system, political parties and police. Judiciary is the only ray of hope for them. They (Muslims) are keenly watching whether the unconstitutional CAA is nullified or upheld by the SC.”
“Agar unhone Modi-Shah sarkar ke is nirnay ko kayam rakh liya, unconstitutional Act ko constitutional maan liya, toh this will be last nail in the coffin of secularism. (If the Supreme Court upholds and pronounces the unconstitutional decision of the Modi-Shah government as constitutional, it would be the last nail in the coffin of secularism,” said Singh.
“We don’t know what will happen in the country after that, as the magnitude of anger against that law in the country is hard to gauge.
"The movement has now slipped out of the hands of the political parties and politicians. On the one hand, the students are against the law and on the other hand, the minorities are against it. In the minority community it’s no longer the males, but instead, the females and children who are controlling the movement. I appeal the apex court to pronounce the suitable judgment, otherwise, we can’t say what will happen to the country,” said Singh.
Singh also said, “I’m often dubbed as pro-Muslim, but I’m neither pro-Muslim nor pro-Hindu, I’m only pro-India.”
The BJP took strong exception to the Congress veteran’s remarks.
Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal termed Singh’s statements as contempt of court.
“Through such statement, Singh has not only shown contempt to the apex court, but has also tried to put pressure on the SC by saying that if the CAA is pronounced constitutional by the top court, it would be the last nail in the coffin of secularism. The statements made by him are highly provocative.”
Meanwhile, Digvijaya Singh along with former Olympian and ex-union minister Aslam Sher Khan will travel across Madhya Pradesh after Republic Day to unite people against the CAA-NRC.
“We’ll travel across the state and unite people against the CAA-NRC,” announced Khan.
The 66-year-old Khan who is two times former Congress Lok Sabha member played a seminal role in India’s lone Hockey World Cup triumph in 1975.