Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Saturday said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) “do not deserve” to be implemented in the country as they will affect people of all communities.
He accused the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of “trying to polarise” the country and said they will not be allowed to do so.
The chief minister questioned that when the government “could not implement” NRC in Assam then how will it be successful in implementing the same in the entire country.
He said the violence in different parts of the country is unfortunate and demanded that the Centre repeal the CAA.
“Eleven people have died in violence. The situation is alarming. Demonstration is democratic right but violence cannot be tolerated,” Gehlot said.
“CAA and NRC don’t deserve to be implemented in the country. This will affect people of all communities. They want to process both CAA and NRC together. They should say they will move ahead by taking all communities together,” Gehlot said while targeting the BJP, PM Modi and Home Minister Shah.
“It is the trick of the BJP, Modi and Shah for polarisation. They want to keep polarising the country so that they can get its advantage in elections. They want to push the country in (an atmosphere of) hatred but we will not let this happen,” he said at a press conference here.
The chief minister said the country should run on the principles of the Constitution.
Gehlot said he will hold a peace march in Jaipur Sunday to give the message that people of all communities in the state want to live with peace and harmony. He said members from all communities will take part in the march.
The chief minister said several demonstrations were held in the state Saturday and the situation was peaceful barring a few incidents in Jodhpur and Bikaner.
The peace march will start from Albert hall and will culminate at Gandhi circle. He said measures to restore peace should have been initiated by the chief minister of violence-hit Uttar Pradesh.
According to officials, at least 11 people, including an 8-year-old boy, have lost their lives in Uttar Pradesh as the protests against the CAA turned violent in the state.
PTI