Jitendra Singh holds Cong responsible for violence, asserts CAA is a 'subject of Centre'

On Sunday, Dr.Jitendra Singh- the Minister of State Prime Minister’s Office alleged that Congress was responsible for the incidents of violence over the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Maintaining that the situation was comparatively better than before, he opined that some elements were taking advantage of the situation for political gain. On states refusing to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, Dr.Singh said that it was not under the states prerogative.

Read: Trinamool Govt Snaps Internet Services In Parts Of WB, Party Continues Rally Against CAA

Read: Adhir Ranjan Says Assam Has Become 'New Kashmir' Amid Protests Over CAA

Read: Cong Leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Calls CAB 'divisive', Says It Will 'break India'

President gives assent

The CAA seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they will not be considered as illegal migrants. Additionally, the mandatory residence period for naturalised citizenship for these communities would be reduced to 5 years. Several parties in the North East such as the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) have been vehemently opposed to this legislation. To ameliorate their concerns, the Centre has exempted a major part of the North East from the ambit of the Act. The opposition contends that the Act discriminates on the basis of religion, which might go against Article 14, which guarantees the right to equality. While the Lower House of the Parliament cleared the Bill just after midnight on Monday, the Rajya Sabha passed it two days later. It came into force after the President gave his assent to the Bill. Many states such as West Bengal and Kerala have opposed the implementation of CAA. 

Read: ''Northeast Cannot Be Dumping Ground For Foreigners'': Filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma On CAA