Two months after Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s statement on the final draft of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) triggered mass protests in Assam, a similar statement by Union Minister Shantanu Thakur on the ‘implementation’ of CAA has drawn flak from politicians across states.
During an interview with a news channel, Thakur, a BJP MP from Bongaon, an area with the majority of people belonging to the Matua community in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, said that swift implementation of the contentious legislation would be made within seven days. The news was reported on January 29.
“The CAA will be implemented very soon. It will be implemented within seven days. This is my guarantee,” said Thakur, also a leader of the Matua community and the party’s most prominent Matua face.
However, days after his controversial statement, Thakur said that his statement was a “slip of the tongue”. According to a report by The Telegraph, Thakur said that ‘the framing of the CAA rules’ would be completed within a week.
The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, aims at granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
‘As Long As I Am Alive…’: TMC Hits Back
Following Thakur’s statement, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lambasted the BJP for raising the CAA issue ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, asserting that she will never allow its implementation in the state during her lifetime.
Speaking at a public distribution programme at Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, she alleged that the BJP “opportunistically raised” the issue of the CAA ahead of the upcoming elections.
“With elections approaching, the BJP has again raked up the CAA issue to reap political benefits. But let me make it very clear that as long as I am alive, I will not allow its implementation in West Bengal,” Banerjee affirmed, echoing sentiments expressed on the previous day.
Tamil Nadu Won’t Allow
A similar reaction was prompted by Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin who asserted that the DMK government would never allow the CAA to be implemented in Tamil Nadu, as it discriminates against certain groups of people such as Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the country.
Expressing his stance on X, Stalin criticised the opposition AIADMK, saying if it were not for that party’s support of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, it may not have become a law. He pointed out that the legislation discriminates against Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and Muslims.
When the DMK was earlier in the opposition in Tamil Nadu, the party staged protests against the CAA and conducted a signature campaign demanding that the legislation be repealed. After the party assumed power in 2021, the state government passed a resolution in the legislative assembly urging the Centre to withdraw the CAA, he pointed out.
Remarking that the people are bearing witness to the BJP government’s actions that “go against communal harmony” and the AIADMK’s “drama”, Stalin vowed that the DMK government would not implement the controversial law.
How Did Congress React?
Reacting to the statement of Thakur, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said, "When a minister makes a statement it is considered as the statement of the Cabinet until it is refuted. BJP should refute this statement, there isn't much time left for (Parliament) session to start."
AASU Might Resume The Protest
All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) president Utpal Sharma has asserted that the students’ body will resume its protest against the implementation of CAA. While attending the 12th conference of its Tinsukia District Committee at Doomdooma as chief guest, he lashed out at the former AASU activists joining a political party.
According to a report by The Sentinel, he said "We cannot forget the sacrifices of our martyrs" and added that "99 per cent of our activists are working for the welfare of the society through various avenues of services".
"Only 1 per cent of such traitors among us cannot detract us from our path of struggle," he said.
Opposition leaders in Assam have consistently maintained their stand that any attempt to enact an “unconstitutional” law that violates the terms of the 1985 Assam Accord will not be tolerated by the people of the state.
