Union Minister Shantanu Thakur has triggered furore by saying the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act will be implemented within seven days across the country.
Shantanu Thakur, Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways addressing an event in West Bengal said, "Ram Mandir has been inaugurated (in Ayodhya), and within the next seven days, the CAA - Citizenship (Amendment) Act - will be implemented across the country. This is my guarantee. Not just in West Bengal, the CAA would be implemented in every state of India within a week," PTI reported. Thakur was addressing a public rally in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas on Sunday.
Recently, an official with the Union government said rules for CAA will be notified soon. Under the CAA, Indian nationality will be granted to persecuted non-Muslim migrants--Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians--from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who had come to India till December 31, 2014. "We are going to issue the rules for the CAA soon. Once the rules are issued, the law can be implemented and those eligible can be granted Indian citizenship," the government official told PTI. The entire process is said to be conducted online.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a recently in West Bengal said no one can stop the implementation of CAA. “I want to say this clearly that CAA is the law of the land and no one can stop its implementation. This is the commitment of our party," Shah said during a party meeting in West Bengal. Earlier, during a rally in Kolkata, Shah said, “Assam has done a commendable job in stopping infiltration. But in West Bengal, infiltration persists due to the TMC government's vote-bank politics. Mamata Banerjee is opposing CAA, but let me say it clearly that CAA will be implemented in the country. No one can stop the implementation of CAA," Shah said.
-with PTI inputs.