What happened in Hitler's Germany in 1930s happening in India now: Amarinder Singh on CAA

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act was against the secular fabric of the country and claimed that events unfolding now were similar to the ones witnessed in Germany in 1930s when Adolf Hitler was at the helm.

Participating in the discussion in the state Assembly on a resolution against the CAA, Singh termed the Act as "divisive" and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) as a "tragedy" and said he was unfortunate to witness in his lifetime the events unfolding now in the country.

"You want to change secular fabric of this country. It is very sad what is happening now. We had not even thought of such a thing. We want to break brotherhood merely for politics," he said.

"Clearly, no lessons have been learnt from history," the chief minister added.

The Punjab Assembly on Friday passed the resolution by voice vote against the controversial CAA, seeking its repeal by the Centre.

The resolution also urged the Centre to put on hold the work on the National Population Register (NPR) till forms or documents associated with it are amended suitably in order to allay apprehensions that it is a prelude to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and designed to deprive a section of people from citizenship of India and implement the CAA.

The Punjab chief minister in an emotional tone said, "Where will poor go and from where will they procure their birth certificates...This is a great tragedy. And I am very sorry to say that in my lifetime...I wish I was not here when this is happening to my country, where are we going to be in a situation where brotherhood is being broken for politics."