Not needed, says Shivakumar on CAA implementation

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday opposed the Union government’s plan to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

CAA, which was passed back in 2019, seeks to give citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim immigrants in the country who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The legislation had been met with protests on a massive scale, especially by Muslims since there was a fear that the CAA coupled with a panIndia National Register of Citizens (NRC) would make millions of members of the country’s largest religious minority stateless.

“They would have taken a decision earlier itself. Who said no? Now, at the time of elections, when a lot of communal issues may start, they’ve done it. We don’t want anything to start. We want a peaceful country. We want all sections of society to be together. It’s not the right time. They could have taken a stand earlier because they have an absolute majority...the timing of taking this decision is completely wrong, number one," DKS said.