While the Act had been passed by Parliament in December 2019, and was followed by protests across the country, the government is yet to formulate its rules. Last month, in the fifth such application for extension, the Union Home Ministry headed by Shah sought five more months to formulate the rules.
During events on Thursday marking one year of the West Bengal Assembly elections, that returned the Trinamool Congress to power, if Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attacked the Centre over its empty promises on the CAA, Shah asserted that the legislation would very much be implemented and accused the TMC of “spreading rumours” on the matter.
Addressing a public meeting in North Bengal's Siliguri, Shah said: “Mamata didi only wants to see infiltration (into Bengal) and that our refugee brothers do not get citizenship. But the Trinamool must listen to this clearly, that the CAA was a reality, is a reality and will remain a reality.”
In her speech, Banerjee said she will continue to oppose the CAA and NRC, and reiterated that the issue of citizenship was the BJP's ploy to fool the masses. “They (the BJP) are not winning in 2024. The CAA is their plan. Why are they not bringing it?… After one year, he (Amit Shah) has come here. He should hide his face,” she said.
The CAA aims to ease citizenship for those who have migrated to India from neighbouring countries fearing religious persecution. In West Bengal, with lakhs of Hindu refugees from East Pakistan or…
