CAA implementation within a week: Union minister Shantanu Thakur
Kolkata, Jan 29: Union Minister Shantanu Thakur on Monday said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be implemented in the country within a week.
During an interview with a news channel, Thakur, a BJP MP from Bongaon, an area with the majority of people belonging to the Matua community in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, said that swift implementation of the contentious legislation would be made within seven days.
The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, aims at granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
"The CAA will be implemented very soon. It will be implemented within seven days. This is my guarantee," said Thakur, also a leader of the Matua community.
Thakur, the union minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways, has made a similar comment on Sunday.
He has been claiming that the CAA would be implemented in the country ahead of the Lok Sabha polls this year.
Matuas, who constitute a large chunk of the state's Scheduled Caste population, had been migrating to West Bengal since the 1950s, primarily due to religious persecution in erstwhile East Pakistan which later became Bangladesh.
Since the nineties, political parties in West Bengal have actively sought to secure the support of the Matuas, who, due to their significant population and tendency to vote together, are considered a valuable voting bloc akin to the minorities.
The Matua community is believed to benefit the most from the implementation of the CAA.
Thakur's assertion on the CAA's implementation comes amidst reports this month, suggesting that the rules for the legislation would be notified "much before" the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.
His remarks elicited strong reactions from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state, which has vehemently opposed the CAA, labelling it "divisive".
"Our party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have clearly said that CAA won't be implemented in West Bengal. The BJP leaders are attempting political gimmickry by making such false promises before the Lok Sabha elections," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated that the implementation of CAA is inevitable as it is the law of the land.
During a BJP meeting in Kolkata, he had accused Banerjee of misleading people on the CAA issue.
The TMC has consistently opposed the CAA, with Banerjee alleging that the BJP is "exploiting" the citizenship issue for political gain.
The promise of implementing the controversial CAA served as a major electoral platform for the BJP in the previous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in West Bengal.
Party leaders believe that it played a pivotal role in the BJP's rise in the state.
According to the manual of parliamentary procedures, the rules for any legislation should have been framed within six months of presidential assent or seek an extension from the committees on subordinate legislation in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Since 2020, the Home Ministry has been taking extensions at regular intervals from the parliamentary committees for framing the rules.
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Congress slams BJP, Sangh Parivar over arrest of Catholic nuns in Chhattisgarh
Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 27 (PTI): The Congress in Kerala on Sunday vehemently criticised the BJP and the Sangh Parivar over the reported arrest of two Catholic nuns from the state by police in Chhattisgarh.
According to media reports, the Kerala-based nuns were arrested at a railway station in Chhattisgarh recently on charges of human trafficking and forced conversation raised by right-wing activists.
AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan cited it as the latest example of attack against minorities in the BJP-ruled states.
In a post on 'X', Venugopal said attacks on minorities have seen a rampant increase under BJP-ruled states, be it Chhattisgarh, Odisha or Madhya Pradesh.
"The latest attacks by Bajrang Dal goons on two Catholic nuns in Durg, Chhattisgarh point to a tacit support for such hate crimes from the ruling establishment," he alleged.
Venugopal said he has written to the Union Home Minister and Chhattisgarh CM demanding strict punishment against these culprits and the urgent need to uphold the Constitution so that fundamental rights of minorities are not threatened under their rule.
Echoing similar sentiments, Satheesan said witch-hunt in the name of religion or caste is unacceptable.
In a Facebook post, he alleged that the Kerala nuns became victims of a brutal police witch-hunt.
A "mob trial" was held against the nuns and a false case was filed against them, he alleged.
"The rights guaranteed by the Constitution are for everyone. It is not the generosity of the BJP or the RSS. The nuns arrested in a false case in Chhattisgarh should be released immediately," Satheesan said.
Alleging that the Sangh Parivar are "wolves in sheep's clothing", the Congress leader said that they would come to the churches and Christian homes in Kerala with cakes. "In other places, they will disrupt all the celebrations of Christians. They will attack them brutally. The latest example of this was seen in Chhattisgarh," he alleged.
Attacks on minorities have seen a rampant increase under BJP-ruled States, be it Chhattisgarh, Odisha or MP.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) July 27, 2025
The latest attacks by Bajrang Dal goons on 2 Catholic nuns in Durg, Chhattisgarh point to a tacit support for such hate crimes from the ruling establishment.
I have… pic.twitter.com/zcwSMVUHLJ
Before their arrest, the Catholic nuns were illegally detained, harassed, and humiliated by Bajrang Dal’s Jyoti Sharma and her team, all in full view of the police, who stood by in silence.
— Anti Christian Tracker Watch - ACT India ✝️ (@ACTWatchIndia) July 27, 2025
🛑No FIR against Jyoti Sharma yet.
Is this democracy or mobocracy? https://t.co/JdUCnb19NY pic.twitter.com/UnGevvou2q
