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Citizenship Amendment Act 'is wrong and should be denounced', says Canadian leader Jagmeet Singh

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Dec 26, 2019, 11:54 AM IST
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File photo of Canadian MP Jagmeet Singh. Photograph:(AFP)

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'At a time of rising hate and polarisation, governments should work to unite people, not divide them,' the Indian-origin Canadian leader added.

Canada's New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh on Wednesday criticised the newly enacted Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)  in India asserting that it is was "wrong and should be denounced". 

"The Indian government's new Citizenship Amendment Law purposely discriminates Muslims and other minority communities. It is wrong and should be denounced," Jagmeet Singh, a leader of New Democratic Party (NDP) said on Twitter.

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"At a time of rising hate and polarisation, governments should work to unite people, not divide them," the Indian-origin Canadian leader added.

The Citizenship Amendment bill sailed through both houses of Parliament earlier this month and became a law after the getting assent of President Ram Nath Kovind. Since the enactment of the Act, anti-CAA protests have erupted in parts of the country during which several clashes between police and protesters have taken place.

The bill, now an Act, seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

The leftist former criminal defence lawyer, Jagmeet Singh is the first non-white leader of a federal political party in Canada, and played a role of kingmaker after Justin Trudeau's Liberal party failed to get a majority in the general elections.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for calm and appealed citizens to not pay any heed to rumours.

"Don't resort to violence. People listened to rumours and rumour-mongering fueled violence," the prime minister said during his address in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. 

On Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that there might have been some communication gap on the part of the government in reaching out to people.

In an interview with ANI, Amit Shah said he had made it clear in his speeches in parliament during the debate over the Citizenship Amendment Act that no member from minority community will lose citizenship.