The YogiAdityanath- led Uttar Pradesh government is working swiftly to implement thecontentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state even as intense protests continue across the country. In the latestdevelopment, the UP government has sent a list of largely Hindu refugees fromPakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh living across the 19 districts of thestate to the Home Ministry.
With this,Uttar Pradesh has become the first state to begin the process forimplementation of the CAA.
The reportprepared by the state government -?¡°Uttar Pradesh Mein Aaye Pakistan,Afghanistan Aevam Bangladesh ke Sharanathiyon ki Aapbeeti Kahani¡±?¨Cdetails the personal stories of the refugees.
Last week,the state home department had asked all district magistrates to identify refugeesfrom Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who has been living in theirrespective areas and submit a list to the government.
The datacompiled so far by the various departments says that there are around 40,000non-Muslim illegal immigrants live in UP, mostly in the 19 districts of Agra,Rae Bareli, Saharanpur, Gorakhpur, Aligarh, Rampur, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur,Mathura, Kanpur, Pratapgarh, Varanasi, Amethi, Jhansi, Bahraich, LakhimpurKheri, Lucknow, Meerut and Pilibhit.
Pilibhitaccounts for the major chunk of refugees. The number in the district standsclose to 30,000 to 35,000 immigrants.
According toa TOI report, the data of refugees¡¯ details and testimonies from each districthad been submitted to the home ministry and to the chief minister¡¯s office.
The testimoniesof the families reveal the circumstances in which they moved to India.
While UttarPradesh is acting swiftly on CAA, many other Indian states have rejected CAA.
At a timewhen India is gripped under nationwide protests against the CAA that has beentermed as ¡°unconstitutional¡± and ¡°unsecular¡±, some state governments haveresolved to not implement it in their state.
Leading theway, on December 31, Kerala Assembly passed a resolution demanding thescrapping of the controversial CAA.
Theresolution was moved by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the state assembly.
Whilepresenting the resolution, CM Vijayan said the CAA was against the ¡°secular¡±outlook and the fabric of the country and would lead to religion-baseddiscrimination in granting citizenship.
"TheAct contradicts the basic values and principles of the Constitution. In view ofthe anxiety among the people of the country, Centre should take steps to dropthe CAA and uphold the secular outlook of the Constitution,¡± he said.