the goan I network
MARGAO
The stage is set for the huge anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rally at the Lohia Maidan on January 24 at 3.30 pm with the organizers Council for Social Justice and Peace, NCHRO and Concerned Citizens of Goa on Wednesday giving a call to the people to oppose any illegal enforcement of the law.
At a joint media briefing, Fr Savio Fernandes, Executive Secretary, CSJP, NCHRO Goa unit working president Ranjan Solomon and CCC President Samir Shaikh, said it was their common conviction that the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR) are unconstitutional and therefore unacceptable.
Fr Savio said the government must listen to the voice of the people and withdraw the Act, adding that the government can then engage in wide consultations if it still wishes to proceed with any form of legislation regarding citizenship.
“If it arrogates the power to enforce the law, it will face stubborn and unceasing resistance,” he added.
NCHRO working president Ranjan Solomon said the government should also take note of the fact that this is the first time since Partition that people across the country have demonstrated an unyielding show of unity cutting across religions and social formations to register their protests on the streets.
“It is close to a month and the struggle is sustained by the citizens’s own initiatives since this law endangers democracy and secularism,” he added.
Solomon said the government is resorting to the abuse of law and other mechanisms and intelligence agencies to suppress this popular people’s movement.
“We have noticed how, in many parts of the country, the government has been high-handed in undermining the protests. They have unleased violence and adopted intimidating tactics against peaceful protestors. Here in Goa, conceding to threats by a fringe group, permission granted to Citizens of Mapusa for a peaceful protest was revoked on flimsy grounds. We, as a people, in a democracy, have the right to resist any illegal form of legislation,” he said.
Demanding that all the law-enforcing institutions also respect the tenets of democracy and cease their undemocratic and punitive ways, he said politicians and responsible government officials must recognize that they work for “We the people”.
Concerned Citizens of Goa President Samir Shaik demanded that the people have access to a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic which grants all its citizens justice, social, economic and political.
“The government is steamrolling laws which demand that we must prove our Indian citizenship despite having all relevant documents on record. It is unlawful to disenfranchise genuine citizens, whose legal rights to stay in this country cannot be challenged. In view of this vicious and deceitful method of de-citizenizing millions of people, we as people must not only reject the proposed NPR process, but refuse to cooperate with the NPR. This is our firm an non-negotiable conviction. Towards this, we issue a call to oppose any illegal enforcements of the law,” he added.
