Bengal Assembly Passes Anti-CAA Resolution, Becomes Fourth State to Do So

Bengal become the fourth state in India after Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab to pass a special resolution to repeal the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, as Chief Minister of the state, Mamata Banerjee declaring that the protest, “is not only of minorities, I thank my Hindu brothers for leading this protest from the forefront”.  

In the past few months, Left-ruled Kerala and Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Punjab have already passed such resolutions.

During her address at the State Assembly, Mamata Banerjee said, “In Bengal, we won’t allow CAA, NPR, and NRC. We will fight peacefully. As per the CAA, you have to become a foreigner to become a citizen; this is a terrible game, pushing people towards death. Don’t fall into their trap”. She also dubbed BJP as the “Brand Ambassadors of Pakistan”, saying, “They always talk of Pakistan and less of Hindustan”.

Kerala was the first state to pass a resolution against the law demanding rollback of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on December 31, 2019. The state also invited other opposition ruled states to follow the suit.

Though the BJP has time and again questioned the efficacy of such resolutions, declaring that it would not going to overturn the law and that states are constitutionally bound to follow any law passed by the Centre. The Congress and the Left parties have pointed to the federal structure of India.  

Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh said such a resolution “represents the will of the people” as it comes through the elected representatives of the state. Kerala also said the amended version of the law is always unconstitutional and the state assembly has a duty to pass a resolution against it.

India, which is an established secular democratic country on the basis of its constitution, has for the first time made religion the test of Indian citizenship. As critics believe the bill discriminates against Muslims and violates the very secular structure of the Constitution.

West Bengal also was the first state to pass the resolution against NRC (National Register of Citizens) after its implementation procedure begun in Assam, mid last year. All the major political parties of West Bengal, except the BJP, in an unprecedented show of solidarity joined hands with ruling Trinamool Congress to pass a resolution in the Assembly on September 6 opposing the NRC exercise in Assam and resolved not to allow it to take place in West Bengal.

Speaking on the special resolution against NRC, which was tabled under Rule 185 of the Rules of Procedures of Conduct of Business of the House, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee then said, “We do not accept the NRC. What has happened in Assam can never happen in Bengal”. She also pointed out that the reason behind the NRC exercise in Assam was the Assam Accord of 1985, which was signed by the Centre, and the leaders of the Assam Movement then. But in West Bengal no such agreement exists, and hence there is no any such basis for carrying out an NRC.