Shah firm on CAA despite protests; Congress accuses him and Modi of lying

A day before the Supreme Court (SC) is set to hear over a hundred petitions challenging the constitutionality of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the law will not be scrapped despite the ongoing protests. Addressing a public meeting in Lucknow, Shah accused the Opposition of “misleading” people on the Act.

 

In the national Capital, Congress leader Kapil Sibal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah of “lying” on as many as “nine” counts on the CAA, National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). Asked about the party’s stand on the NPR having been notified and to be undertaken from April 1 onwards, along with the Census, Sibal said all issues related to NPR and NRC can be answered only after the apex court decides on the CAA.

 

In a series of tweets, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RGI) said the data collected will be secure and non-compliance could lead to a penalty. “While confidentiality about your data is guaranteed by the Census Act, 1948, the same law specifies penalty for both public and Census officials for non-compliance or violation of any provision of the Act,” the RGI said.

 

On the other hand, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the NPR was a constitutional obligation. “Disclosure of information in NPR is voluntary only,” he said.

 

The NPR exercise will be carried out, along with the house-listing phase of the Census from April 1 to September 30, 2020. The Kerala and West Bengal governments have said they will not carry out the NPR exercise. Several non-BJP state governments are likely to pass resolutions against the amended Citizenship Act.

 

In Lucknow, Shah said there is no provision in the amended law for taking anyone’s citizenship away. He also challenged Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, and Mamata Banerjee to have a discussion with him on the issue. Sibal, on the other hand, posed a counter-challenge to Modi and Shah to a debate on the CAA, NRC, and NPR. Sibal, who will also argue the case against the CAA in the SC on Wednesday, said Modi and Shah were “lying” on the issue that the law is non-discriminatory.

 

He dubbed claims that the CAA and NRC were not related a “lie” as evident from Shah’s statements connecting the two, as also the speech of the President to the joint sitting of Parliament last year.

 

On claims that NPR has not been notified, Sibal termed this also a “lie”. He said the NPR has been notified in the gazette and the exercise will start from April 1. He said the experience in Assam has exposed the “lie” that the CAA process will not affect Indian citizens. He pointed to the fate that the family of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, and those who have served in the armed forces, have suffered as they were put in the list of “doubtful” citizens.

 

Sibal said claims of the Uttar Pradesh government that it has identified over 30,000 Hindu migrants not given citizenship was also a “lie”. “How is it that they have been identified as migrants when the CAA rules have not been framed, neither has the NPR process started.”

 

In a related development, Janata Dal (United) leader Pavan Varma asked party chief Nitish Kumar to clarify his position on the issue of aligning with the BJP in the Delhi Assembly polls. On Monday, the Shiromani Akali Dal announced its refusal to contest as an ally of the BJP in Delhi. Varma said he might quit the party if he found Kumar’s reply unsatisfactory.