Citizenship Act Protests LIVE: Centre Responds to Global Concerns, Says 'Assured Countries CAA, NRC Won't Hamper Constitution'

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Citizenship Act Protests LIVE Updates: India has reached out to countries across the world on the issues of the new citizenship law and the proposed National Register of Citizens, the ministry of external affairs said on Thursday. We did reach out to countries across the globe on Citizenship Amendment Act and the NRC, MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing.

Citizenship Act Protests LIVE: India has reached out to countries across the world on the issues of the new citizenship law and the proposed National Register of Citizens, the ministry of external affairs said on Thursday. “We did reach out to countries across the globe on Citizenship Amendment Act and the NRC,” MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing.

“We emphasised that the Act (CAA) just expedites acquiring of citizenship to persecuted minorities. It does not change basic structure of Constitution,” he said. On when the India-Japan summit, which was postponed following protests in Guwahati last month, will be held, Kumar said the dates for it will be finalised soon.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan today said the state assembly’s resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act had no legal or constitutional validity as citizenship is exclusively a central subject. “This actually means nothing,” Khan said, two days after the assembly asked the Centre to cancel the contentious legislation that has triggered countrywide protests. The resolution was supported by all the MLAs except BJP’s O Rajagopal.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad too said Parliament alone has got powers to pass any law regarding citizenship and not a state legislatures, “including Kerala assembly”. Recalling that late Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had provided citizenship to minorities from Uganda and Sri Lankan Tamils, respectively, he wondered why was it ok if Congress did so and “it is a problem” when Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah did the same.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to review cases against 1,200 people who have been put behind the bars for their alleged involvement in anti-citizenship law protests and the ensuing violence. The development comes after four people were found to be mistakenly jailed in Muzaffarnagar.

The Director General of Police OP Singh had given orders to constitute a Special Investigation Team to probe the FIRs registered for the violence that erupted during the anti-citizenship law protests. This was done to ensure that no innocent person is sent to jail and those arrested mistakenly are released.

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