the goan I network
MARGAO
Threatening to intensify the ongoing agitation against CAA/NPR/NRC, the massive anti-CAA rally at Fatorda on Thursday called upon Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to come clear on the government’s stand on the contentious issue before the February 3 Assembly session even as the people vowed not to rest till the controversial legislation is withdrawn by the central government.
As thousands of people, young and old, including a large number of women, joined the anti-CAA rally at the Nehru stadium, before culminating in a mega public meeting at old market, activist Rama Kankonkar threatened to mobilise thousands of people in Panaji to march to the Legislative Assembly if the government and the MLAs fail to adopt a resolution demanding that the central government immediately and unconditionally revoke the CAA and all activities related to NPR and NRC when the Assembly session begins on February 3.
Convened by the Church-backed Council for Social Justice and Peace (CJSP) in association with the National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations and the Concerned Citizens of Goa to commemorate Martyr’s Day on the occasion of the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, CJSP convenor Fr Savio Fernandes said the ongoing movement will continue till the government revokes CAA/NPR and NRC.
“The government is out to divide the people. They had revoked permission for the Mapusa meeting. But, we will not abandon our movement. Crores of people across the country are on the streets. The government has preferred to turn a deaf ear. We are sad the government has not listened to the voice of the people,” Fr Savio lamented.
Saying the CAA/NPR/NRC will create problems for the countrymen of unimaginable proportions, Fr Savio wondered how the very government elected by the people can raise questions on their citizenship.
Environmentalist Dr Claude Alvares said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched a direct assault on the country’s Constitution, saying the CAA has removed secularism from the Constitution.
Saying the CAA is directed at the Muslim community to exclude the community from coming into India, Alvares said the NPR threatens to question the citizenship of the people if they do not produce the birth documents of their parents and grandparents.
Making a plea to the people to be on guard as the government has planned to start the NPR exercise from April, Alvares said people should not cooperate with the NPR if the government does not delete the controversial questions. “No government will be able to throw out the citizens from the country. It will only happen over our dead bodies,” he added.
In his fiery speech, Rama Kankonkar urged the people to maintain pressure on the MLAs, right at the panchayat level, by passing resolution against the CAA and handing them over to the MLAs. He urged the MLAs to pass a resolution demanding withdrawal of the CAA on the lines of other states, warning that people will descend in the Capital city in large numbers if the MLAs fail to adopt the resolution.
Saying the government has not accepted his challenge for a debate on CAA, Kankonkar lamented that instead of accepting the debate, the government banned journalist Faye D’Souza because of her anti-CAA stand.
“We will mobilize 30,000 people in Panaji if the MLAs do not pass the anti-CAA resolution in the ensuing Assembly session,” he warned.
Environmentalist Ramesh Gauns said the BJP is working towards Hindu rashtra as per RSS ideology by making Muslims as second class citizens. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is lying that everything is well in the country, adding “if there is peace, why there are protests across the country”.
Popular Front of India leader Muzzawar Sheikh said, “Our agitation is peaceful. It is the government that is talking the language of violence.”
While urging the people not to sign any document when the authorities come to their homes to conduct the NRP or NRC, Muzzawar said people will not rest in their homes till the CAA is withdrawn.
In his address, Sheikh Iftikar requested the MLAs to raise the issue in the ensuing Assembly session, reminding the people that the ongoing battle is not a battle to protect to protect Muslims, but to protect the
Constitution.
MLAs Vijai Sardesai, Churchill Alemao, MMC Chairperson Pooja Naik, Mahila Congress chief Pratima Coutinho, former Verna Sarpanch Tony D’Costa and oth ers were seated in the audience. AAP leader
Valmiki Naik was seen in the anti-CAA rally
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