Karnataka to implement CAA “hundred per cent”: CM

7 new COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, CM briefs opposition

Bengaluru:

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday declared that his government will “hundred per cent” implement the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“Hundred per cent we will implement,” he told reporters at Hubballi in north Karnataka in response to a question regarding the implementation of the CAA.

State Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had said on Tuesday that for “political reasons” several state governments have taken divergent views on the CAA’s implementation, “but taking the constitutional position Karnataka will implement it.”

“The bill to this effect has been passed by Parliament, President has given his assent, it is law now for the whole country, so it is applicable to Karnataka also,” Bommai said.

The Home minister expressed confidence that there will be no violence in “peace-loving” Karnataka, where police have taken precautionary measures.

Chief ministers of several states like West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have said they will not implement the law.

Different parts of the country witnessed violent protests against the citizenship (amendment) bill which was passed by Parliament and given assent by the President last week.

According to the Act, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, and facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

The act says refugees of the six communities will be given Indian citizenship after residing in India for five years, instead of 11 years earlier.

Yediyurappa on Wednesday also welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict dismissing a convict’s review plea in the Nirbhaya case.

“Death penalty to Nirbhaya’s murderers is a welcome thing…..this decision was an alarm bell for those indulging in such crimes,” he said.

The Supreme Court has dismissed the plea filed by one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, seeking review of its 2017 judgment upholding his death penalty.