Bhagwat further emphasised that no Muslim will face any loss due to the citizenship law.
'We will not accept the CAA and EIA. We have been protesting against the CAA since 2016, but this government has not listened to us'
The Wankhede stadium in Mumbai was the stage to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens on Tuesday. Fans at the venue used the first One Day International between India and Australia to voice their concern over amended citizenship law in the country.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act filed by an activist. A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant issued notice to the Centre on activist Saket Gokhale's plea and tagged them along with over 160 petitions challenging the CAA which are listed for hearing this month.
The resolution was passed during the state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Kamal Nath, public relations department minister P C Sharma told reporters. Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal have already passed resolutions demanding scrapping of the CAA.
A group of artists held a protest in Mumbai on Saturday against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act by creating paintings around the theme of 'Save Constitution'. The protest was organised by the Secular Movement and the Secular Artist Movement at the Azad Maidan in south Mumnbai. Some 90 artists from across the state, including Prakash Bhise, Sudharak Olwe, Prabhakar Kamble and Nandkumar Jogdand, created several canvas paintings against CAA.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
Fahad Ahmad, a student leader from the Tata Institute of Sciences (TISS), has been at the forefront of the anti-CAA agitation in Mumbai.
'He is the only president, the only American politician, who had the guts to stand with Hindus.'
BJP leaders in the state are either lying low or criticising the CAA move in hushed tones. Chandra Kumar Bose, vice-president of the BJP's state unit, is most vocal with his opposition to the Act in the current form. "The country is above petty party politics. How can I keep quiet when I see that something is happening which is wrong in its current form?" Other party leaders aren't as vocal as Bose but clandestinely have been questioning the merit of the CAA and its impact on the BJP's prospects in the state. In fact, at a time when the BJP started making deep inroads in the state, the fear of the CAA and the NRC appears to be ruining its prospects.
"The Centre has passed the CAA with the honest intention of granting citizenship to persecuted refugees coming to our country from neighbouring nations," he added.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it has withdrawn 274 recovery notices and proceedings initiated against anti-CAA protestors in 2019 for damages caused to public and private properties.
The way the Bahraich riot has played out should worry the BJP. The party has emboldened Hindu youngsters to such an extent that its MLAs feel the need to go to the police against their party members. Is this what the BJP wants, asks Jyoti Punwani.
Gogoi was the only one whose bail was rejected by the court and he was released after spending 567 days in jail once Special NIA Judge Pranjal Das cleared him along with the three others of all charges.
Shah also challenged Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to show one clause in the CAA under which anyone is going to lose Indian citizenship.
He questioned why only migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given citizenship under the amended law and not the Sri Lankan Tamils.
In an interview with PTI, Roy praised the Union government for implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules, stating that it would benefit the refugee population, including the Matua community, who had fled neighbouring countries to escape religious persecution.
A group of BJP workers had put up a poster 'India Supports CAA' on the wall of Jyothi Nivas College near Koramangala. This was opposed by girl students, who said they would not allow any such poster to be put up on the college property.
Bollywood celebrities like Prasoon Joshi, Bhushan Kumar, Ritesh Sidhwani, Anu Malik, Abhishek Kapoor, Kunal Kohli, Vipul Shah, Urvashi Rautela, Kailash Kher, Ranvir Shorey, and Anil Sharma were among the Bollywood personalities who attended a special meeting with Union minister Piyush Goyal and Bharatiya Janata Party vice-president Bijayant Panda on Sunday as part of central government's Citizenship Amendment Act outreach programme. The dinner was organised at a five-star hotel in Mumbai and was an invitation-only affair.
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its implementation got delayed. But as the situation is slowly improving, the work has started. The rules are now being framed and CAA will be implemented very soon. Under this act all the eligible people will definitely get Indian citizenship," Nadda told the social groups, who included Dalits, Gorkhas, Rajbanshis and other tribes.
A group of Indian-Americans gathered at Times Square on Sunday, carrying placards and raising slogans in support of the Narendra Modi government and CAA.
The affidavit, filed by B C Joshi, Director in the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the CAA does not confer any arbitrary and unguided powers on the executive as the citizenship to the persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh would be granted in a manner as specified under the law governing grant of citizenship.
Banerjee termed her meeting with PM Modi as "courtesy visit" and said she has raised issues regarding the due financial assistance that the state is yet to receive.
"Everybody in this country has the responsibility to implement the law which has been passed in Parliament,", the minister, who was in Chennai as part of the BJP's nationwide 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan' campaign in support of the Act, said.
"Shouldn't they get Indian citizenship? Shouldn't their human rights be protected?" Shah asked the audience which responded with a resounding "yes".
The top court said that the proceedings initiated in December 2019 were contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court and cannot be sustained.
In a tweet on Sunday, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said, 'Recent developments in our volatile neighbourhood & the way Sikhs & Hindus are going through a harrowing time are precisely why it was necessary to enact the Citizenship Amendment Act.'
If Muslims face trouble I will be the first person to raise voice for them, says the Tamil superstar.
The applicants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain or Parsi faiths will also have to furnish documents to prove that they entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
On the lines of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, around 50 women along with children have been squatting near the Clock Tower in Lucknow's old quarters. The women protesters alleged that blankets provided to them by some organisations were taken away by police. The police dismissed the allegations.
'We are not a dictatorship. If the people do not desire some law, it is impossible for any government to implement it,' says BJP leader Chandra Kumar Bose.
'In 2021, assembly elections are going to be held in Assam. The BJP, sitting in Delhi, is thinking everything is hunky-dory in Assam. But that is not the case.' 'People of Assam are no longer with the BJP.'
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that bringing in resolutions against the Citizenship Amendment Act is more of a "political gesture" by the states as they hardly have any role in granting citizenships. The lawmaker said that in the implementation of the National Population Register and the proposed nationwide NRC, the states will have a vital part as it will be their officials who will conduct the exercise because the Centre doesn't have the required manpower.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan rejected BJP's criticism against the resolution demanding scrapping of the CAA. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had hit out at Kerala government, saying Vijayan should seek 'better legal advise'.
Banerjee expressed skepticism about the BJP's ambitious target of achieving 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
The resolution is likely to be passed on the very first day of the session, government sources said. The opposition BJP has said the government's move to bring the resolution will be strongly opposed.
'We are pleased to announce the candidature of @sagarikaghose, @SushmitaDevAITC, @MdNadimulHaque6 and Mamata Bala Thakur for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections,' the party said in a tweet.
The MHA put out a set of FAQs on the Act, seeking to counter a 'misinformation campaign'. It said the Act doesn't have anything to do with the deportation of any foreigner in India.
A bench headed by CJI Bobde is likely to hear a batch of 143 petitions. The apex court had on January 9 refused to entertain a plea seeking that the CAA be declared constitutional, saying the country is going through difficult times and there is so much violence that endeavour should be for peace.
Addressing a rally in Lucknow in support of the CAA, Shah threw the challenge for the debate to Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati. He also declared that the construction of a Ram temple 'touching the skies' in Ayodhya will begin within three months.