he Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act but decided to examine the constitutional validity of the Act. Hearing a bunch of pleas against the Citizenship Act, a bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant fixed the pleas for hearing on January 22, 2020. It also issued a notice to the Central government on the petitions, challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship Act.
The Citizenship Amendment Act provides citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who faced religious persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
Meanwhile, the authorities have imposed Section 144 in Karnataka for three days. Kalaburagi DCP has said that Section 144 has been imposed from Thursday morning till December 21. A bandh has also been called by a consortium of the Left-wing and the Muslim organisations on Thursday in Kalaburagi. In Dharwad district, Section 144 would be imposed from 10 pm on December 18 till 12 noon on December 21 under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner: All schools and colleges will remain closed on 19 December. #Karnataka https://t.co/CTWnorwDzf
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2019
CITIZENSHIP ACT: HERE IS ALL THAT HAPPENED
1. A Supreme Court bench issued a notice to the Centre on the batch of pleas seeking a stay on the operation of the law as well as on the main petition challenging the constitutional validity of the controversial legislation. The petitioners include Trinamool Congress (TMC) parliamentarian Mahua Moitra, Congress’s Jairam Ramesh, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, various NGOs, and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), among others.
2. Following the Supreme Court’s refusal to stay the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, a petition was filed in the Delhi High Court seeking to constitute a fact-finding committee to look into the Jamil Millia Islamia violence which took place on Sunday during a protest against the Act. The Delhi High Court has agreed to hear the plea.
3. The petition alleges that the Delhi Police “resorted to use of arbitrary, excessive, discriminatory and illegal force against students, more particularly female students, of Jamia Millia Islamia University, on the false pretext of restoring law and order”. It has also said that the students and the teachers of Jamia Millia Islamia University were protesting in a peaceful manner against the Citizenship Act and the police used force against them.
4. The protests at the Madras University against the Citizenship Act entered third day as the defiant students said they would continue their agitation. Two Madras University students, who were taken into custody by the police for allegedly inciting students of affiliated colleges to join the stir, were released on Tuesday night.
5. Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan, who went to join the protests at the Madras University, was not allowed inside the varsity campus. He spoke to the students standing outside the gate and asked them to continue their agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
6. While he was not allowed to enter the university, addressing the students from outside the gates, Kamal Haasan said, “It’s not just about education. It is about the nation. No bill is so great that it cannot be retracted. If it’s not good for people, it should be taken back. This government is moving towards dictatorship.”
7. A day after Seelampur violence, which left 18 people including 11 policemen injured, police and paramilitary personnel carried out a flag march in the area. Police also maintained a tight vigil to ensure that the situation in the area, which witnessed large scale violence on Tuesday, remained under control.
8. Jamia Teachers Association also took out a peace march to express gratitude to the supporting universities and also sought withdrawal of cases registered against the students.
Addressing a press conference, the association said, “We categorically reject the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. We will protest against it till our last breath. Why are you singling us out? The government has been telling us from the past 70 years that we can’t be given reservation on the religious grounds but they can give citizenship to everybody but Muslims. Ab kahan gaya religious grounds [where have the religious grounds gone now]? Those who think they can communalise the CAA protests, well, bring it on. We will not let you win even from behind the barricades.”
9. While there was agitation against the Citizenship Act, there was also a march held in support of it. Some Delhi University students took out a march backing the Act and also chanted “Delhi Police zindabad” slogans in support of the police. The march included some students of JNU, ABVP, and JNU Teachers’ Federation (JNUTF).
#WATCH Counter protest by some Delhi University students against #CitizenshipAmendmentAct protesters, today. Chants of 'Delhi Police Zindabad' raised. #Delhi pic.twitter.com/LPGanrEXPC
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2019
10. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday appealed for peace across the nation and reiterated that the Citizenship Act was not for the Indian citizens. He also said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) would not be implemented in Odisha.
