Assam opposition parties sumbit memo to President on proposed notification of CAA rules

Guwahati (Assam) [India], February 29 (ANI): The United Opposition Forum, Assam on Thursday submitted a memorandum to the President through Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria opposing the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, All India Trinamool Congress, Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and 12 other political parties met the Assam Governor and submitted a memorandum to the President through him requesting that the law should be implemented in the state.

The United Opposition Forum led by Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah, TMC Assam president Ripun Bora, and AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi met the Assam Governor at Raj Bhavan in Guwahati and submitted the memorandum.

Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah said that the CAA is anti-constitutional and the people of Assam will not accept the CAA.

“If the government will not listen to the voice of the people of Assam, then all 16 political parties will unitedly start a mass movement against CAA in Assam,” Bhupen Borah said.

TMC Assam president Ripun Bora and AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said that the situation in Assam in the context of illegal influx is completely different compared to the other parts of the country, so the government should rethink about implementation of the CAA.

On the other hand, talking about the seat sharing of the 16 political parties United Opposition Forum, the Assam Congress president said that, discussions on the seat sharing are going on and it will be finalized soon.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is expected to announce the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 regulations prior to the enforcement of the model code of conduct, sources said.

The CAA rules, introduced by the Narendra Modi government, aim to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants – including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians – who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

Following the passage of the CAA by Parliament in December 2019 and its subsequent Presidential assent, significant protests erupted in various parts of the country.

Sources privy to the development told the ANI that “the regulations for the CAA could be announced anytime before the enforcement of the model code of conduct”.

On December 27, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had asserted that the implementation of the CAA cannot be halted as it stands as the law of the land. He had also accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misleading the public regarding this matter.

Under the Citizenship Act of 1955, Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization is granted to non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan in nine states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Maharashtra.

It’s notable that authorities in districts of Assam and West Bengal, both politically sensitive regions on this matter, have not been empowered with these citizenship-granting authorities thus far.