States bound to implement acts enacted by Parliament, says Union Minister RK Singh
VISAKHAPATNAM: Union Minister of State for Power RK Singh on Sunday said States were bound to implement Central laws and Acts enacted by Parliament as per the Constitution. Speaking to mediapersons here, the Union Minister said if States don’t implement the Acts passed by Parliament, it amounts to violation of the Constitution.
Replying to a query on the stand taken by Kerala, West Bengal and some other States on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Singh said the State Assembly resolutions have no relevance, adding that “they can only express their views”.
“All the States have to follow Central laws. The President of India will take action against the States if they failed to implement the CAA,” he said and added that citizenship was a Central subject and not a State one.
Singh said the CAA was aimed at giving citizenship and not taking away citizenship. However, some parties, particularly the Congress, were inciting people against the Act to gain political mileage, he alleged.
“Under the Act, citizenship will be given to minorities who fled Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious persecution by the governments there. There is no truth in misinformation campaign unleashed by some parties that the CAA will take away their citizenship,” he clarified.
Singh said Muslims who were nine per cent in India at the time of partition were 15 per cent now. At the same time in Pakistan percentage of minorities has come down from 19.8 per cent to 1.6 per cent, he claimed and sought to know what happened to a large number of minorities in the neighbouring country.
“It is our duty to protect those who fled Pakistan. They were Indians before partition. They did not cross the border for economic gains, but for shelter,” he said and added that if citizenship was given to such people it will not harm anyone.
If any leader makes any statement inciting violence or speaks against the law, action will taken against them, if charges are proved, the Union minister warned.
Replying to a query, he said all our neighbours are Muslim countries and there were no instances of Muslims running away due to religious persecution in these countries. “There is no specific data on Shias and Ahmadis who fled Pakistan due to persecution,” the union minister said.