NEW DELHI: Enraged over the statements given by INDIA bloc leaders against the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), a large number of Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan and Afghanistan staged a massive protest near the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters here on Friday.
The protestors, holding placards depicting their resentment against India alliance leaders and raised slogans.
A heavy police force was deployed in the area along with teams of rapid action force to maintain law and order and to prevent the refugees from reaching the Congress headquarters. Police have also placed multiple layers of barricades.
A tense standoff between the demonstrators and the police was witnessed near Ashoka Road.
"Be it Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal or Mamata Banerjee, all are speaking against the government providing us the citizenship. We fled Pakistan to save our daughters and mothers. We are the victims of atrocities and these leaders are against us," one of the protestors named Hari Kumar said.
Panju Ram, another protester, said, "When the BJP-led Centre is implementing the CAA to give us citizenship, why are other political parties opposing it? We are protesting against them for opposing the law."
The Hindu and Sikh refugees staged a protest near Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Civil Lines residence here on Thursday, demanding an apology from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader over his statements against the implementation of the CAA.
Kejriwal had, at a press conference on Wednesday, alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to settle poor people hailing from minority communities in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the country through the CAA and create a vote bank for itself.
He alleged that those coming from Pakistan and Bangladesh and settling here will be given jobs and houses and that, in turn, will affect the locals. Kejriwal also expressed concern that millions of people will come from neighbouring countries which may lead to an employment crisis for the local population
Previously, Senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh had also raised concerns regarding the timing of the introduction of the regulations associated with the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The Congress party asserted that this legislation stirred controversy due to its departure from the constitutional principle that citizenship should not be determined by religion
Notably, thousands of Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan and Afghanistan reside in the national capital.
The Centre had on Monday implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which provides an accelerated pathway for citizenship of illegal migrants who are Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and who entered India before 2014, following the religious persecutions.
