SILCHAR, Dec 25 - A closer reading into the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 shall reveal that there is no mention of any classification of granting citizenship to the religious persecuted persons from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan anywhere in the Act, claimed Hafiz Rashid Choudhury, senior advocate of Gauhati High Court and chief advisor to the Citizens� Rights Preservation Committee (CRPC).
While interacting with media persons during his visit here, the veteran advocate slammed the BJP government for spreading misinformation regarding the content of the Act and said, �the CAA, 2019 has no mention of granting citizenship to the religious persecuted persons coming to India from the mentioned countries. Whatever is being dished out by the BJP leaders is only oral which has unfortunately led to an unwanted chaos across the State and all over the country. It is nothing short of a political gimmick.�
Claiming that the BJP is playing divisive politics over the CAA, Choudhury maintained that the Government is on �the backfoot with its anti-people steps and hence it is coming up with packages like bulk jobs, special awards etc., only to woo the people who might slip out from the hands.�
The seasoned advocate shared his hunch saying that the Act violates Article 14 of the Constitution and hence has the possibility of being scrapped. However, he was quick to say that everything depends on how the Supreme Court takes on the issue in the coming days.
Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s statement on the non-existence of detention camps in the country, Choudhury took a jibe at Modi saying, �there could be two sides of the comment the Prime Minister has made. One, he is unaware about detention centres in Assam and the other could be, Modi is fully aware of the ground realities. If it is the second possibility, it is unfortunate that such a willfully ignorant person is leading the country.�
