Rajasthan Assembly passes resolution against CAA
Jaipur: Rajasthan Assembly on Saturday passed a resolution urging the Centre to repeal the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), amid opposition by the BJP which accused the ruling Congress of pursuing appeasement politics.
It is the second Congress-ruled state after Punjab to pass such a resolution. Earlier, Kerala Assembly too had passed a resolution against the CAA moved jointly by the ruling Left alliance and the opposition Congress-led UDF. The West Bengal Assembly is also set to pass a resolution regarding the same on January 27.
The Rajasthan Assembly passed by voice vote the resolution which also asked the Centre to withdraw the new fields of information proposed to be included in National Population Register (NPR), 2020.
"It is evident that the CAA violates the provisions of the Constitution. Therefore, the House resolves to urge upon the government of India to repeal the CAA to avoid any discrimination on the basis of religion in granting citizenship and to ensure equality before law for all religious groups of India," Parliamentary Affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal said while moving the resolution in the House.
Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria questioned the "right to challenge" the Act in the state Assembly.
Meanwhile, on the occasion of Republic Day, the Catholic Church in India said it will join the agitations against the CAA along with the Archbishops across the nation, urging the faithful to read out the preamble of the Constitution after the Sunday mass. The largest Christian church of the country said it will make an announcement on Sunday declaring January 26 as the Constitution Protection Day.
In a letter to all the parish priests under his diocese, Paul Antony Mullassery, Bishop of Kollam in Kerala, has asked all the parishes as well as Catholic organisations to read the preamble and take a pledge to protect the Constitution on Sunday. He said the observation of the Constitution Protection Day is to make the citizens conscious of the citizenship and the duties.
"The country is going through an unprecedented social situation. The Prime Minister who took over charge by kissing the Constitution is leading the attempts to violate the values provided by the Constitution for this country. Most important among this violation is the division of society on the basis of religion. We should react strongly to exclude one particular community from the CAA," Bishop Mullassery said.
