Telangana adopts resolution against new citizenship act

THE CM SAID MEMBERS WERE CONCERNED OVER THE PROPOSED IMPLEMENTATION OF

THE NPR AND NRC, ‘WHICH MAY RESULT IN EXCLUSION OF A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE

HYDERABAD: The Telangana Legislative Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Population Register and the National Register of Citizens.

It urged the Centre to amend the CAA “to remove all references to any religion, or to any foreign country” in view of apprehensions among a large section of people in India.

The resolution, moved by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, said members were concerned over the proposed implementation of the NPR and NRC, “which may result in exclusion of a large number of people”.

It urged the Telangana government to take all necessary steps to safeguard the people of the state from exercises such as NPR and NRC.

On February 17, a Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minist er K Chandrasekhar Rao, decided to pass the resolution while urging t he Centre t o repeal the last year’s changes in the Citizenship Act.

It also appealed to the Centre “not to discriminate” on the basis of religion in granting citizenship to anyone.

“The State Cabinet appealed to the Union Government, not to discriminate on the basis of religion for according Indian citizenship. It requested that all religions must be treated as equal before the law,” an official release on decisions taken in the Cabinet meeting stated.

The state Cabinet decided to pass the anti-caa resolution in the state assembly on the lines of the ones passed by Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal, it said.

Coming out strongly against the CAA, Chief Minister Rao had said in January that he might convene a meeting of regional parties and chief ministers to oppose the amended citizenship law.

The amended citizenship law is aimed at fast-tracking the grant of Indian citizenship to members of religious minorities from t he Muslim- majority countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

While the central government has maintained that the l a w wil l hel p non- Muslim migrants from three neighbouring nations become Indian citizens if they fled religious persecution and entered India before 2015, activists, students, opposition parties and other protesters allege that the law discriminates against Muslims and is against the secular tenets of the constitution.