Protest held against CAA, NRC in Odisha

Members of the Muslim community took out a protest rally here on Tuesday against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), demanding the revocation of the new citizenship law.

They also submitted a memorandum to the state government addressed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

"The passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), which has become an Act now, and NRC is against the Constitution and the country. They are meant to divide the country. It has been targeted against one community," said one protester.

Saying that there are protests against CAA across India, he said that not only Muslims are protesting, but Hindus, Christians and Sikhs are also against the move of the Union government.

"The Citizen Amendment Act is unconstitutional, which violates Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India. Since there is a fear of religious discrimination, it is unfortunate and distressing to see that constitutional rights of secular India are at stake," said the memorandum.

The memorandum added that being a secular party, the support of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for CAB has broken a million hearts in Odisha.IANS