Just like West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath led a march against the ‘anti-constitutional’ Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Bhopal on Wednesday, December 25, vowing not to implement the Act in the state.
He also questioned the government’s ‘intentions’ behind the National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
At the ‘Samvidhan Bachao Nyaya Shanti Yatra’ (Save the Constitution) rally led by him from Roshanpura Square to Minto Hall he said, “Any law that is anti-Constitution, anti-religion will not be enforced in Madhya Pradesh. The NRC and the CAA have hidden political intents of the BJP. We have to protect the Constitution and culture of the country.”
He also said that the new law opened doors for ‘misuse’ stating that what was ‘not written’ in the contentious legislation held more importance than what was. “During my 40 years in Parliament, I have never seen an anti-constitutional law like the CAA and NRC. It is not a question of what is written (in the law), but what is not (written). “It is not a question of its use, but of misuse. They are opening the door of misuse,” he said.
He stated, “The peace march is not just for Bhopal or Madhya Pradesh, it’s for the nation. We want to send a message from the heart of the nation on how the central government is trying to disintegrate the country.”
Responding to a query about the Centre’s go-ahead for updating the National Population Register (NPR), he told reporters covering the march, “Wo jo NPR le aaye, wo toh hum bhi chahte the, par uske sath koi NRC nahi juda tha. Jo ye jodkar la rahe hai ye inki niyat sabit karti hai! (We also wanted the NPR that they have brought, but there was no NRC associated with it. They are bringing it together, which has made their intentions clear).”
He told the people that he would fight against the CAA till the end for it was “against the basic structure of the country”. “The identity of India is through its Constitution, which connects various cultures and ensures unity of the country,” he added.
The march saw participation from many Congress leaders and members of various other political parties like the Communist Party of India (CPI), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leaders PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are facing major flak from the people of the country for thrusting down the CAA and NRC down everyone’s throat. Major protests have erupted throughout the country and the agitation has now taken the form of a student uprising after police atrocities on students from Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMIU) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
The BJP is also losing its foothold in the country. After losing face in Maharashtra, it has now faced defeat in Jharkhand. 10 states have joined hands to officially reject the CAA-NRC. Whether or not this will lead it to realize its folly and revoke the CAA and scrap the NRC, is yet to be seen.