After Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan, the West Bengal assembly also passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) resolution on Monday, reports Times of India.
The resolution was moved by the state government. West Bengal chief minister Msamata Banewrjee in the assembly on Monday said, "This protest is not only of minorities but of all. I thank my Hindu brothers for leading this protest from the forefront. In Bengal, we would not allow CAA, NPR, and NRC. We will fight peacefully."
The chief minister has been opposing CAA and she has participated in various protests against the Act.
Speaking on the resolution, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the protest against CAA “is not only of minorities and I thank my Hindu brothers for leading this protest from the forefront”.
Similar resolutions have already been passed by Left-ruled Kerala and Congress-ruled Punjab and Rajasthan.
“As per the CAA, you have to become a foreigner to become a citizen... this is a terrible game, pushing people towards death. Don’t fall into their trap,” she added.
“The label of doubtful citizens, detention centres... is unacceptable. The way things are, it was better not to have been born. Today, people are scared that they may have to leave this country. They are queuing up for all kinds of documents and cards,” Mamata said.
Terming the BJP as the “Brand Ambassadors of Pakistan”, she said “they always talk of Pakistan and less of Hindustan”.
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has questioned the efficacy of such resolutions against CAA, arguing it would not overturn the law passed by parliament and that states are constitutionally bound to implement any such legislation. The CAA offers citizenship to non-Muslim people from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who took shelter in India till 2014 if they had fled to India because of religious persecution in those countries. Critics say the bill discriminates against Muslims and goes against secular tenets of the Indian Constitution.