CAA violates constitutional provisions: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen
Bengaluru, Jan 8: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Tuesday claimed that the Citizenship Amendment Act violates Constitutional provisions.
"The CAA law that has been passed in my judgment should be turned down by the Supreme Court on the grounds of it being unconstitutional because you cannot have certain types of fundamental human rights linking citizenship with religious differences," he told reporters at the Infosys Science Foundation's Infosys Prize-2019 here.
The Nobel laureate said what really should matter for deciding citizenship is the place a person is born, lived and so on.
About the CAA, he said "My reading of the constitution is that it violates the provision of the constitution."
Explaining further, Sen said citizenship on the basis of religion has been a matter of discussion in the constituent assembly where it was decided that "using religion for the purpose of discrimination of this kind will not be acceptable."
Sen, however, agreed that a Hindu treated badly in a country outside India deserves sympathy and his case must be taken into account.
"It (consideration for citizenship) has to be independent, of religion but take cognisance of the sufferings and other issues into account," Sen said.
Speaking about the violence in the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Sen took note of the fact that the university administration could not prevent entry of outsiders coming on the premises and creating violence.
"The communication between the university administration and the police got delayed due to which ill treatment of students went on without being prevented by the law enforcement agencies," he added.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
