Punjab
A resolution against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed in the Punjab Assembly by voice vote on the last day of the two-day special session on Friday.
The resolution, which was introduced by Local bodies and Parliamentary affairs minister Brahm Mohindra, called for doing away with CAA as it was “against humanistic values and against secular values”.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supported the resolution, while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) opposed it.
AAP MLA Aman Arora said that the law was enacted to divert attention from “bigger issues”.
SAD MLA Sharanjit Dhillon said that they demand that Muslims should not be left out under CAA.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh that the issue of CAA had shaken the entire country. He said that the youth understand that what the government is doing is unconstitutional.
“What is happening in this country? We need to learn from history. In the 1930s, the same happened in Europe. First, they were against communists, then they were against Jews. This is religious cleansing,” said Singh. The CM asked where poor people would get their documentation from.
Singh said that there was an attempt to “change the secular fabric of this country.”
Singh also launched a scathing attack on SAD for opposing the resolution, saying the “Akalis have forgotten the teachings of even Guru Nanak while supporting CAA”.
He said he would gift Hitler’s memoir ‘Mein Kampf’ to all the Akalis so that they would know how fascist ideology is being implemented.
Speaking during the debate, Finance Minister Manpreet Badal said that people of Punjab “don’t accept injustice”. The CAA will create divisions among people of Punjab, he said.
“Punjab has a long tradition of rejecting any discrimination based on communal ideas,” he added.
Punjab is the second state after Kerala to move a resolution against the contentious CAA in the state assembly.
