WB, Punjab, Kerala say no to CAB

Thiruvananthapuram/Kolkata/Delhi, Dec 12
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday announced that his State will not implement The Citizen (Amendment) Bill, 2019 passed by the Parliament. While addressing a press conference in the State Secretariat, the Chief Minister alleged that by passing the CAB, the BJP was executing the agenda to divide the Nation on communal lines.
The Governments of West Bengal and Punjab have also said the same thing.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha passed The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that provides Indian citizenship to the six minority communities - Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian and Sikhs who have sought refuge in India from religious persecution in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
At present, it is mandatory for a person to stay in India for at least 11 years to get citizenship. The Bill reduced this period to six years.
Chief Minister Pinarayi said that Kerala will challenge the validity of the CAB in every available forum, including the Supreme Court.
"The spirit of our Constitution is based on secularism and Modi Government is trying to undermine secular characteristics of our Constitution by passing the Bill. The CAB will divide the Nation on the basis of religion and caste," the CM said.
He added, "During partition, millions of Muslims came to India to live here. They didn’t want to live in a Muslim Nation and preferred to live in a secular Nation. After 72 years, Modi Government is following Pakistan to execute barbaric agendas."
After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the latest to join the bandwagon of Chief Ministers to oppose the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 is Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, who on Thursday stated that his State will not implement it. He also termed the Bill a direct assault on India’s secular character.
“Terming the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) a direct assault on India’s secular character, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today said his Government would not allow the legislation to be implemented in his State,”  the Punjab Chief Minister’s Office said in a statement.