Calling the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) as an assault on secular character of the country, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday said his government would not allow the legislation to be implemented in his state.
Captain Amarinder said the Congress, which has a majority in the Punjab Assembly, ‘would block the unconstitutional Bill’.
“What if other countries, where Indians are settled in large numbers and have acquired their citizenship, decide to bring in similar legislations? What will happen to those Indians if the countries of their stay decide to withdraw their citizenship on account of their religious beliefs?” asked the Punjab CM and senior Congress leader.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also has announced that Kerala government will not accept the Bill.
“Kerala will not accept Citizenship Amendment Bill. CAB is unconstitutional. The central government is trying to divide India on religious lines. This is a move to sabotage equality and secularism”, Vijayan told media.
On a day Home Minister Amit Shah tabled the Bill in the Lok Sabha, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave a clarion call to oppose the “divisive” bill “at any cost”, and said National Register of Citizens (NRC) and CAB will never be allowed in Bengal as long as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is in power.
