Following the footsteps of Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal, the Puducherry Assembly, on Wednesday, adopted a resolution urging the Centre to repeal the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). The ruling Congress went a step ahead by adopting another resolution condemning the attempts by the BJP-led Union government to destroy the secular fabric of the country.
Moving the resolutions at a special session of the Assembly, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said the CAA, along with the proposed plan to implement the National Register of Citizens and National Population Register, would destroy the unity and secular character of the country.
Terming the CAA “discriminatory and unconstitutional”, the Chief Minister said by excluding Muslims from the purview of CAA, the Union Government was paving the ground for a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ as envisaged by the RSS. The aim was to whip up communal passions and divide people on religious lines so as to reap political dividends, the Chief Minister said.
Re-emphasising his government’s intention to carry out census without seeking any additional information from people such as religious identity, date of birth of respondents and details of their parents, the Chief Minister said the Congress would not allow the decisive agenda of Centre to be implemented in the Union Territory.
Referring to the letter written by Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi on February 10 cautioning the government against passing a resolution on CAA, the Chief Minister said he would not get be cowed down by threats.
“I have made it clear when Parliament brought the amendment to Citizenship Act that it will not be implemented even at the cost of the government. I challenge the Prime Minister and Home Minister to dismiss my government for adopting the resolution,” he said.
While three nominated legislators belonging to BJP staged a walk out after protesting against tabling the resolution, principal Opposition party AINRC and AIADMK boycotted the special session.