New Delhi: The protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, intensified in many parts of India especially the North East and West Bengal. Today, protestors in West Bengal set fire to railway station in Murshidabad District and beat up RPF personnel.
In Delhi students of Jamia Milia Islamia University went on a rampage against the CAA and pelted stones against the police. Two officers are grievously injured and are in the ICU. Ten more cops are injured in the attack by the students.
Assam in under lockdown with 26 columns of Army to keep the violence under control. There is curfew and internet is blocked. The Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, today accused the Congress party and other communal forces of instigating violence in the state in the name of CAA.
He said, “The Congress and some communal forces are behind the violence. Even some ultra-Left have joined the mob. It is a political conspiracy. The state government will not tolerate any violence and will take strong action against anyone who is involved in arson and vandalism.”
The CAA stipulates granting citizenship of India for six communities that are Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Christian, Buddhist, and Zoroastrians who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan before 31 December, 2014, to escape religious repression.
However, protesters in Delhi and West Bengal are particularly not happy with the Act because it excludes Muslims from the list. As the Bill speaks of minorities in these countries, Muslim migrants naturally do not appear in the list.
