Citizenship law to be enforced once rules are made, says JP Nadda

The Centre will enforce the new citizenship law in the country once the rules are made, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president J P Nadda said in Kolkata on Thursday night.

“The rules are being made right now. We will implement it here (Bengal) too in letter and spirit once the rules are made,” Nadda said at a press conference, hours after his cavalcade was stoned by some people at Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganans district.

This is the second time the BJP spoke on this issue this month.

The party will start campaigning from January for implementation of the new law, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and national vice-president Mukul Roy announced at a public meeting in Kolkata on December 6.

The citizenship issue is bound to have an effect on the assembly polls due in about five months as chief minister Mamata Banerjee has declared that she will never enforce it.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act fast tracks citizenship for non-Muslims who entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before December 31, 2014. Opponents of the law, among whom Banerjee is a prominent face, insist that it is discriminatory and unconstitutional as it leaves out Muslims and links citizenship to faith in a secular country.

Accusing Banerjee of appeasing Muslims, Vijayvargiya said at the BJP programme at Mayo Road in Kolkata that his party will hit the streets next month to campaign for implementation of the law.

“The chief minister calls the Prime Minister outsider. She calls the Union home minister outsider. But to her, the Rohingya refugees, who are spreading terror, and the infiltrators from Bangladesh are not outsiders. Mamata Ji is opposed to giving citizenship to Hindus who came to India as refugees. Why should we allow that?” Vijayvargiya had said on December 6.

Mukul Roy made it clear that the issue would be raised by the BJP during campaign for elections.