The tense situation in New Delhi since a week and violence seen in Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Milia Islamia campuses are a reflection of the Union government not hearing people and using force to silence the opposition to CAA, activist Teesta Setalvad said here on Sunday.
Speaking at an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act programme organised by Samvidana Samrakshana Samiti at Kuttar Padavu, Ms. Setalvad said that the Union government was behaving in the same way the British did following the passage of the Rowlatt Act in 1919. The British then carried out firing at Jallianwalabagh and the Union government now was doing the same to those opposing CAA, the proposed National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizenship (NRC).
No Government, she said, can change the secular nature of the Constitution that granted equal citizenship rights to all.
Ms. Setalvad said that Assam residents are facing the brunt of implementation of NRC, which was done under the watchful eyes of the Supreme Court. Following the release of the third and the final list of NRC, nearly 19 lakh of the 3.2 crore residents were left out of the exercise. This 19 lakh included Bengali Hindus, Adivasis and other communities.
“If NRC comes into effect across the country, it is not just Muslims but people from all communities will be affected,” she said.
Ms. Setalvad said that people taking to the streets for the protection of their rights reflected how strong the Constitution is.