NEW DELHI, 12 Nov: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that the BJP is committed to implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and that it is a matter of time that its rules are framed.
“It is a Hindu’s legitimate right to become a citizen in his or her motherland and the BJP fully stands by the CAA,” he said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.
Asked why the rules for the Act had not been framed yet, Sarma pointed out that there were people protesting against the CAA and thereafter, the coronavirus pandemic came.
“It is in the process, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains committed. The Parliament has passed the legislation; it is a matter of time when you see CAA rules,” he said.
The chief minister also rejected the argument that the saffron party uses it as a poll plank, saying that people who would vote because of the CAA would not even account for two to three parliamentary seats in the country’s landscape.
“CAA is part of our commitment; it is part of our ideology. We will implement it. Somebody questioned ‘where is Ram mandir, when it will come’. You have seen Ram mandir now. Somebody has questioned ‘when Article 370 will go’.
It has gone. The same way, you will see UCC (Uniform Civil Code) coming, the same way you will see CAA coming,” he said.
The CAA provides for granting Indian citizenship to non-Muslims – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians – coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The CAA was passed by the Parliament on 11 December, 2019, and the presidential nod was received the next day. Subsequently, it was notified by the home affairs ministry.
However, the law is yet to be implemented as rules under the CAA are yet to be framed. Rules under a law have to be framed for its implementation. (PTI)
