Union Home Minister Amit Shah has declared that the agitators can continue with their protests but the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, which has been officially implemented, will not be withdrawn at any cost.
While addressing a gathering in Lucknow, Amit Shah declared, “…those who have been organizing dharna (protest) and taking out processions would not be heard and the CAA would not be withdrawn in any situation.”
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Shah’s statement came a day ahead of the hearing of around 144 petitions in the Supreme Court. These petitions have been filed challenging the constitutional validity of the amended Act. Widespread protests continue to ring in different pockets with various sloganeering against the government’s back to back citizenship exercises. They have been demanding that the exercises be withdrawn.
The latest ones, CAA and National Population Register (NPR), have been facing strong resentment with deaths of more than 23 people during the violent protests in December, 2019.
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It may be mentioned here that around 5,000 women and children have been sitting in opposition to CAA at Lucknow’s Ghanta Ghar since the past five days. Women in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh have also been protesting since more than a month.
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