Defiant against CAA

MORE and more state governments are coming out against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. On Friday, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh led the charge against the CAA in the Punjab Assembly, making a reference to ‘ethnic and religious cleansing’ in Germany of the 1930s. He also vowed to follow up on the Assembly resolution legally. The Shiromani Akali Dal, a BJP ally, found itself in an embarrassing situation, having to backtrack on a legislation that it had supported in Parliament, while the BJP’s reference to atrocities of the Mughals against the Sikhs did not earn it any brownie points.

The governments of Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra have already given the thumbs down to the new law. Kerala has the distinction of being the first state to challenge the controversial legislation. Congress-ruled Punjab has followed suit, even as party leader Kapil Sibal has said that it would be unconstitutional for a state not to implement an Act already passed by Parliament. Another Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh, has expressed doubts about whether the anti-CAA resolutions passed by state governments can stand judicial and constitutional scrutiny.

With several Opposition-ruled states hardening their stance against the CAA, it is time for the Centre to rethink its uncompromising stand on the law. There is a dire need to develop political consensus on the matter, something which should have been done in the first place. The sense of discomfort that has spread among the minorities in general should be taken note of and addressed. Amid the Centre-state confrontation, a judicial scrutiny of the law perceived to be divisive is now being seen as the last resort of those committed to the secular ethos of the nation.

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