CAA will be implemented after Covid-19 subsides: Amit Shah's BIG announcement in Bengal

Siliguri: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday made a big announcement that the Centre will implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on ground the moment the Covid-19 wave ends.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a reality, and it will be implemented soon, the Union Home Minister said, making it very clear that the controversial citizenship law is back on the Centre's agenda.

Amit Shah said this while addressing a gathering in West Bengal's Siliguri city. During his speech, Shah asserted that the BJP would not rest till it uprooted the tyrannical rule of the TMC and restored democracy in Bengal.

Addressing a public rally in Siliguri town of North Bengal, he also said that the saffron party would continue to fight against the ‘cut-money' culture (extortion), corruption and political violence.

Shah accused the ruling TMC in Bengal of "spreading canards" about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and said that the law would be implemented once the COVID-19 pandemic ended.

"I want to thank the people of north Bengal for raising BJP's tally in Bengal Assembly to 77 from three. The BJP won't rest till it uprooted the TMC's tyrannical rule,” he said.

"We had hoped that Mamata Banerjee would rectify herself after being voted to power for the third time. We waited for an entire year for her to rectify herself, but she didn't change. It is the ruler's law that prevails in the state," he stated.

The Union Home Minister claimed that Banerjee always misled Gorkhas for vested political interests. "Didi has always misled Gorkha brothers and sisters. I have come today to tell them that if there is one party that thinks in the interest of Gorkhas, it is the BJP," he said.

"We have given assurance that a permanent political solution to all problems will be found within the limits of the Constitution," he added. 

The CAA was at the heart of massive protests in parts of the country in late 2019 and early 2020, months before the Covid outbreak spurred lockdowns and other restrictions.

The law, widely criticised as discriminatory as it makes religion a factor for nationality, seeks to fast-track citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before 2015.

Critics say the law, along with a planned National Register of Citizens or NRC, will result in lakhs of Muslims losing their citizenship. The Centre, however, asserts that no Indian will lose their citizenship.