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MP govt under pressure to defy CAB, NRC

Bhopal, Dec 13

The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh is under pressure from its legislators to follow the example set by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to reject the Centre's latest legislation on National Register of Citizens and Citizenship Amendment Act.

One of the two Muslim MLAs of Congress, Arif Masood has asked the state government to follow in the footsteps of Banerjee who has rejected the NRC and CAB implementation in her state, or else he will resign as a lawmaker.

Some other MLAs in MP and Chhattisgarh have also suggested that the government should resist the Centre on these laws.

"I am going to tell my leader clearly that our government should emulate the courage shown by Mamta Banerjee by rejecting the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill," MLA from Bhopal Central Masood said here.

"If they (state government) accept these laws (NRC and CAB), I won't remain a member of the state Assembly," he said.

"I remember that our clerics at a Bhopal mosque dreamt of Indian independence and wrote letters (to mobilise people against the British rule)," he said.

"Similarly, I will ask people of Bhopal to spill onto the streets and launch a massive non-violent protest in Gandhian style against NRC and CAB. I am going to oppose NRC and CAB and if the government sends me to jail I am ready for it," Masood said.

Masood's statement has come at a time when the BJP has accused the Congress of fanning protests in north-eastern states over CAB.

With states like Punjab, Kerala and West Bengal deciding to defy the Centre on NRC and CAB, the Home Ministry has warned that the states cannot refuse to enforce these laws.

In a related development, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath Friday in New Delhi accused the government of practising "politics of distraction" and said the amended Citizenship Act was an attempt to change the narrative by "design".

Addressing the Indian Women's Press Corps, Nath said he was most worried about the future of the Indian youth given the present economic condition of the country.

"The worst part is the politics of distraction, changing the orbit of people's imagination. Every time there is economic slowdown, a bill is introduced, a decision is taken to distract people," the Chief Minister said.