Citizenship Act, NRC: As the clamour from various state government against Citizenship Act grows, Home Ministry on Friday said that states cannot reject implementation of the act and that of National Register of Citizens. An official of the Home Ministry told India TV that rejecting implementation of Citizenship Act is not possible as the act has been enacted under Union List of Constitution 7th schedule.
The clarification has come on a day when BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) seemed to be divided over implementation of Citizenship Act and NRC. On Friday, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said that NRC exercise will not be carried out in the state. Nitish Kumar's JD(U) is part of the NDA.
Chief Ministers of several other states have already declared that exercise in accordance with the Citizenship Act and NRC will not be underataken in respective states. The list includes states ruled by parties from the Opposition.
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, Kerala CM P Vijayan, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik have made public statements to such an effect.
Opposition to Citizenship (Amendment) Act and nationwide NRC has led to violent protests across the country. Citizens and mainly students have held protests that soon turned violent. While people in Northeastern states were the first to take to streets as the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, protests in rest of the country were sparked mainly by university students. The protests gathered greater momentum after the police action against agitating students at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi.
On Friday, areas around Jama Masjid and Daryaganj along with Seelampur and Jafrabad in Delhi saw widespread protests. Thousands thronged the streets demanding repeal of Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
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