Tripura CPI(M), Congress slam BJP, call CAA rules' notification 'diversion tactic'

CPI(M) and Congress leaders in Tripura on Tuesday criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre for notifying the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules. They alleged it to be a 'diversionary tactic' aimed at shifting focus from the ongoing controversy over electoral bonds.

CPI(M) and Congress leaders in Tripura on Tuesday criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre for notifying the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules. They alleged it to be a 'diversionary tactic' aimed at shifting focus from the ongoing controversy over electoral bonds. Tripura CPI(M) leaders said that the BJP's emphasis on the CAA is an attempt to divert attention from the electoral bonds case in the Supreme Court.

"There is a case going on in the Supreme Court on Electoral Bonds. The BJP government and SBI are facing various problems in the Supreme Court regarding this. To divert people and media attention from the case, the BJP has put forward this CAA," Jitendra Chaudhury, secretary of Tripura CPI(M), said. "The CAA can't be executed for at least 5 months as all the major government employees will be busy in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. CPI(M) Tripura is strongly against the new law and we oppose it," the senior CPI(M) leader added.

He further claimed that the whole country is against the move while alleging that the law is not 'according to the Constitution'. "The whole country is against the CAA. The same bill was passed in the year 2016 but for the last 4 years, the Modi government and Home Minister Amit Shah have not been able to execute it. Because they faced huge resistance, especially from the youth of our country. This is because the law is not according to our Constitution," he said.

"Our constitution allows everyone to get their residential identity. Our constitution allows everyone to have the right to book a flight and gain admission to schools or colleges. It's equal rights for all. But the law was made just to target one community. The secularism of the country is not sustained by this law," Chaudhury added. Senior CPI(M) leader Pabitra Kar also claimed that the CAA is totally against the Constitution.

"CAA is totally against our Constitution. Our constitution is for all, for all religions, but according to the CAA, a particular religion will not be able to get the citizenship certificate. There is a demarcation of only the Muslim community. There are a large number of people belonging to the Muslim community in our state. We, on behalf of the CPI (M), oppose the CAA rule completely," Pabitra Kar said. He further claimed that all national parties except the BJP are against the CAA.

"Most of the national parties, apart from the BJP, are against this law. In Assam, Manipur and Tripura, all the political parties and common people are opposing it. The TIPRA MOTHA party of Tripura has been totally in opposition to this law since 2019, though now they have joined the BJP. Just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the ruling party, the BJP, has brought up the CAA bill just to divert the nation's focus from the ongoing Supreme Court case on electoral bonds," he said. The president of the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee, Asish Saha, said that they strongly oppose the CAA.

"Because the BJP government knows that many secret and undisclosed truths will be opened up in the electoral bond case, they brought the CAA. The Tripura Pradesh Congress strongly opposes the CAA rule as it directly targets one community, which is the Muslim community," he said. Saha is also the party's candidate for Lok Sabha elections from West Tripura.

The Supreme Court had in February this year struck down the 'Electoral Bonds' scheme which allowed for anonymous funding to political parties, and ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to stop issuing electoral bonds immediately. The apex court had said that by March 13, the Election Commission of India (ECI) shall publish the details of Electoral Bonds on its official website. The SBI on Tuesday submitted the data on electoral bonds to ECI after the SC dismissed an application of SBI seeking an extension of time till June 30 for the same. On March 11, the Union Home Ministry notified the rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule.

The CAA rules, introduced by the Narendra Modi government and passed by Parliament in 2019, aim to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants--including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians--who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014. (ANI)

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