Holding protests democratic right, but breaching law won't be tolerated: Vij

Haryana Home minister Anil Vij on Saturday said holding protest is a democratic right but the government will not tolerate the breach of law by anyone.

Holding any protest is a democratic right but it will not be tolerated if anyone is found taking law into his own hands, Vij said in a Haryana government statement here.

Vij further said the Citizenship Amendment Act was not to divide people, rather it will work to unite the countrymen.

This is in the interest of the people of the country, said Vij, urging people not to get misled by opposition parties over this issue.

The contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees belonging to Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities facing persecution on the basis of religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

Vij said with this, people belonging to these communities who had come from three countries, will get citizenship.

Notably, from the time the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill received presidential assent and became an Act, there have been violent protests in several parts of the country opposing it.