Asaduddin Owaisi claims CAA unconstitutional, calls public meeting at Darussalam on Dec 21

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi has called a mass public meeting against the new Citizenship Law at Darussalam on Saturday. "A public meeting (jalsa) will be organised against (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi's citizenship law at Darussalam on December 21," Owaisi said in a video while appealing the people to attend the event.

Terming the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as unconstitutional, he said: "This is against our Constitution and an attempt to divide the nation into religious lines. It is imperative to see the citizenship law in the context of the National Register of Citizens (NRC)."

Explaining the effects of CCA-NRC combine, Owaisi said that Muslims would be declared illegal if their names do not appear in the NRC. "But if a non-Hindu's name is not featured in the NRC, he would be given citizenship under the CAA," the Hyderabad MP said. Owaisi said that the CAA will negatively impact the secular values and a guarantee of equal rights to citizens enshrined in the Constitution with the legislation.

READ | Bill Copy Shredded In Parliament, Asaduddin Owaisi Takes War Against Citizenship Act To SC

Ripped apart a copy of the Bill 

On December 14, Owaisi filed a petition before the Supreme Court challenging the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Owaisi had already asserted that the Bill (now CAA) is discriminatory in nature, and claimed that the government is bringing the founder of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah alive with it. Owaisi had vociferously opposed the Bill in the Lok Sabha last week. Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, Owaisi said he was called Mahatma after he tore the discriminatory citizenship card in South Africa, and he then himself ripped apart a copy of the Bill introduced by Home Minister Amit Shah. 

READ | Anti-CAA Protests: Delhi Police Conducts Foot Patrolling As Confidence-building Exercise

SC refuses to stay CAA

The Supreme Court refused to stay the implementation of the amended Citizenship Act on Wednesday, however, decided to study its constitutional validity. A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde and comprising of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant has asked Centre to file a response by the second week of January, and the hearing has been scheduled for January 22. SC asks Attorney General, representing Centre, to consider using the audio-visual medium to make citizens aware of CAA.

Meanwhile, protests that erupted last week in opposition to the Citizenship Act, have refused to douse. Nation-wide protests by political parties, organisations and students are scheduled to be held on December 19, to oppose the bill passed by the Parliament. Delhi, West Bengal, northeastern states, Uttar Pradesh, are already witnessing massive protests. 

READ | Hyderabad Encounter: All Accused's Families Move SC Seeking Probe & Action Against Police

READ | Anti-CAA Protests LIVE Updates: Nation-wide Stir, Sec 144 Imposed In Karnataka, UP, Delhi

(with ANI inputs)