Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said the ruling BJD had backed the amended citizenship law as it applies only to foreigners, but does not support NRC. Patnaik, who for the first time clarified the BJD's stand on the two contentious issues, justified his party's support to the CAA, noting it applied only to foreigners and not Indian citizens. Patnaik maintained that BJD MPs both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have made it clear that the party does not support the National Register of Citizens. The chief minister's statement came a day after people protesting the Act took out a peaceful rally in the state capital and urged Patnaik to make the BJD government's position clear on the amended citizenship law and the NRC. Though there had been no major law and order problem across the state, following passage of the citizenship legislation, Odisha, on Tuesday, witnessed agitation by Muslim community members who sought a clarification from the chief minister. The state has over nine lakh Muslim population according to the 2011 census.
The law amends the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant Indian nationality to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who came to India before December 2014, after facing religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, even if they don't possess proper documents. Combined with the NRC, protesters said they feared this could disenfranchise India's Muslim community. Home Minister Amit Shah had, on multiple occasions, and as latest as November, claimed that the NRC will be a nationwide process. "We had promised to the people of the country in our election manifesto that not only in Assam but we will bring NRC all over the country and make a register of the country's people, and for others [illegal immigrants], action would be taken as per law," he said.
Patnaik is only the latest voice to join in the chorus against the NRC, after supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Parliament. Parts of the northeast and West Bengal had risen up in violent protests against the Act. Earlier, chief ministers like Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan, West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee and Punjab's Amarinder Singh had announced they would not implement the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Writing in THE WEEK, Shiju Mazhuvanchery, professor and Head of Department at Christ Academy Institute of Law, Bengaluru, had summed up the legality of the Centre-state conflict over implementation of the Citizenship Act thus: The constitutional position of states’ role vis-a-vis implementation of parliamentary law is well settled and may be summed up as follows:
1. States have a constitutional duty to implement parliamentary laws.
2. Central government can give directions to the state governments as to the implementation of these laws.
3. State governments cannot exercise any control or give any direction to its staff in implementation of such laws.
Here, several democratically elected state governments feel that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act violates one of the basic features of the Constitution, secularism, and is manifestly arbitrary. The declaration by the chief ministers may be the beginning of a new chapter in Centre—state relations. The states are no longer required to comply with a law or direction that is manifestly arbitrary or violates a basic feature of the Constitution.
A look at how some of the states have reacted:
Punjab:
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on December 12 said the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was a direct assault on India's secular character and the Parliament had "no authority" to pass a law that "defiled" the Constitution and violated its basic principles. He said Punjab will not implement the Act. "The Congress government in the state, on its part, will not let the legislation rip apart the secular fabric of the country, whose strength lies in its diversity," Singh said. Any legislation that seeks to "divide the people of the country on religious lines is illegal and unethical, and could not be allowed to sustain," he said in a statement. The move is retrograde and regressive and seeks to take India back from the progressive charter mandated by its Constitution, he charged.
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh:
The contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 might not be implemented in Madhya Pradesh as well as Chhattisgarh states, with chief ministers of both the states saying that their stand is same as the Congress party on the issue. Interestingly, Bhopal Congress MLA Arif Masood had said that if the MP government implemented the law and NRC in the state, he would not be a part of the state assembly anymore, meaning he would quit the post of MLA. His statement had come after a public meeting where a decision to oppose the Act was taken. The Congress party, which voted against the bill in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, is strongly opposing the act as unconstitutional and Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has already described the passage of the bill in the parliament as a ‘dark day in the constitutional history of India’.
Maharashtra:
Minister and Congress legislature party leader in Maharashtra Balasaheb Thorat took a similar stand on December 13. With Shiv Sena walking out on the bill voting in Rajya Sabha after supporting it in Lok Sabha and later slamming the Act, there is a likelihood that Maharashtra might also follow suit and not implement the Act. Nothing has been confirmed though.
Kerala:
Kerala will not implement the CAA, announced Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, adding that the contentious bill passed by the Parliament was 'unconstitutional'. Discrimination on the basis of religion would not be tolerated in Kerala, Vijayan said. “The Constitution guarantees the right to citizenship for all Indians, irrespective of their religion, caste, language, culture, gender or profession and this very right is being made void by the CAA,” the chief minister said at a press briefing in Thiruvananthapuram. He said the state government would inform the Centre about its stand on the issue. Launching a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, Vijayan said the CAB, which was cleared in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, was part of an RSS agenda to divide the country on the basis of religion. He called it a precursor to 'Hindu Rashtra'.
West Bengal:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was one of the most strident critics of CAA and the National Register for Citizens (NRC) from the earliest phases. She had told a gathering in Kharagpur, according to NDTV, "Don't be scared. We are with you, and as long as we are here, nobody can impose anything on you." Banerjee, on December 18, hit the streets for the third consecutive day against the amended citizenship law and NRC. TMC supremo Banerjee, along with her party colleagues, began a protest march from Howrah Maidan which will culminate at Dorina Crossing at Esplanade in the heart of Kolkata on Thursday. "We will never allow NRC and the amended Citizenship Act in Bengal. No one will be asked to leave the state. We believe in the coexistence of all religions, castes and creed. All of us are citizens of this country, no one can take that away from us," she said before commencing the march. The state had risen up in violent protests for days against the Act.
Bihar:
On December 15, JD(U) vice president and poll strategist Prashant Kishor held a closed-door meeting with Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar. Kumar is under a lot of pressure from within the party for supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act. The meeting came in the aftermath of Kishor's public criticism of his party's support to the new citizenship law. The JD(U) voted in favour of the bill in the Lok Sabha as well the Rajya Sabha. The law allows for granting citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, while the NRC exercise would compile the names of all genuine Indian citizens. On Wednesday, Kishor had tweeted the legislation "could turn into a lethal combo" (with NRC) to systematically discriminate and even prosecute people based on religion. Kishor and Kumar discussed the contentious legislation in an hour-long meeting. JD(U) MLA Mujahid Alam, who represents Kochadhaman assembly segment of Muslim-dominated Kishanganj district, told PTI they were "under tremendous pressure from voters who have misgivings about CAA". "People like myself and Ghulam Rasool Balyawi (MLC) and even non-Muslim MLAs and MLCs who have reservations about the legislation are planning to jointly seek an appointment with the chief minister and apprise him of our anxieties", Alam said. Notably, Balyawi had shot off a letter urging Kumar to do a rethink and not support the bill in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP did not have a majority.
Northeastern states:
The epicentre of protests after the Citizenship Act was implemented. The enactment of the new citizenship law has left top BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad in a quandary following unrest in Assam, with the party deciding to move the Supreme Court to scrap the Act, days after backing it in Parliament. It, however, is still a partner in the BJP-led NDA. "We will take the legal route to seek revocation of the amended Act as the indigenous people of Assam are apprehensive that their identity, language might come under threat," AGP leader Kumar Deepak Das had told PTI.
Here is how other regional parties stand on the issue of Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the northeast:
(Assam) AIDUF: The party led by Badruddin Ajmal, the Lok Sabha MP from Dhubri, is completely against implementation of the amended law. The party enjoys support of a large number of Muslims in Assam.
(Meghalaya) NPP: The party is a BJP ally but has some reservations over the law and its leader and chief minister Conrad Sangma had met BJP chief Amit Shah after the passage of the CAa. Amit Shah has assured the party that the state's interests will not be harmed.
(Sikkim) Sikkim Krantikari Morcha: A constituent of BJP-led Northeast Democratic alliance, the state's ruling party had voted against the CAB in Parliament. The party's stand is since Sikkim is covered under Article 371(F), where the state legislature's concurrence is necessary to implement a central Act, it will not pass a resolution to make CAA applicable to the state.
(Tripura) IPFT: The BJP ally is opposed to the law.
(Mizoram) Mizo National Front: The ruling party in the state is an NDA constituent. It supported the CAB. The state is exempted from the purview of the new law.
(Manipur): No major regional parties active in the state. Congress and Left are opposed to the CAA. Amit Shah had said the state will be "protected" as it will be brought under Inner Line Permit (ILP). The areas under the 'Inter Line' require Indians from other states to get 'Inner Line Permit' to enter or pass through them. The BJP rules the state.
(Arunachal Pradesh): The state is covered under the ILP and is thus protected. The state has a BJP government. Only All Arunachal Students Union, part of Northeast Students Organisation (NESO), is opposing the Act.
(Nagaland): The ruling NDPP is a BJP ally. The new law brings Dimapur, hitherto the only district excluded from the ILP, under it. Since now the entire state is under ILP, the party, which runs a coalition government with the BJP, backs the new law.
-Inputs from PTI