K. Chandrashekar Rao, the Chief Minister of Telangana, passed a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act [CAA,] 2019.
On the 16th of March, KCR addressed the ongoing Budget session of the State Assembly and moved the resolution. Later, with unanimous decision with the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) the State Government passed the resolution, restricting CAA implementation in Telangana.
KCR said the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has a strong reason to be against the CAA, 2019, which would provide citizenship to refugees from Islamic countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh based on their religious beliefs. The CAA would provide Indian citizenship to Jains, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists and Hindus, who fled religious persecution and have been residing in India since or before the 31st of December 2014.
Justifying the reason to pass the resolution, KCR said, “In a civilized society like India, we can’t tolerate such nuisance which has led to unrest in several parts of the country amid apprehensions in the minds of the people.” He further added, “At a time when the world is moving towards breaking down borders, is there a need for such divisive politics in the country.”
KCR said the CAA, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR) should not be taken lightly and should be opposed. He further said, “The citizenship question is pertinent. It has to be addressed but it is a time-taking process. There has to be a meeting of all political parties along with experts and everyone in the country has to be consulted.”
Asaduddin Owaisi, the President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM,) also supported the decision and said, “The citizenship question is pertinent. It has to be addressed but it is a time-taking process. There has to be a meeting of all political parties along with experts and everyone in the country has to be consulted.”
Telangana the youngest State in India is the 10th State to pass the resolution against the CAA, the NPR and the NRC. Previously Kerala, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam,West Bengal, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh passed anti CAA resolutions.
