"Date Chosen Before Ramazan": West Bengal CM Banerjee Releases A Cautious Statement On CAA Notification

Responding to the Centre's notification of rules for implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee released a cautious statement on Monday (11 March).

"You should have notified rules six months ago. If there are any good things, we always support and appreciate but if anything is done that is not good for the country, TMC will always raise its voice and oppose it," she said.

Targeting the Narendra Modi-led central government, Banerjee said, "I know why today's date was chosen before Ramazan. I appeal to the people to be calm and avoid any rumors."

The CAA aims to provide Indian citizenship to persecuted minority groups such as Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India on or prior to 31 December 2014.

"If there is any discrimination, we won't accept it. Be it religion, caste, or linguistic. They won't be able to give citizenship to anyone in two days. This is just lollipop and show-off," Banerjee was quoted as saying by NDTV.

The Citizenship Amendment Act was enacted by Parliament in 2019 but was not implemented as the rules were not notified by the government.

Earlier in January this year, a senior government official had said that the CAA rules would be notified before the announcement of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by the Election Commission.