Amidst the spate of violent protests and riots in many left-leaning universities across the country against the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (Anti-CAA riots), now, the students of National Law University Odisha (NLUO), have come forth to extend their support to the Bill that intends to naturalise persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian refugees from neighbouring countries.
The undersigned students of NLUO unequivocally support the #CitizenshipAmendmentAct.
“The critiques of the act must remember that everything that doesn’t fit the political ideology isn’t unconstitutional.”@LiveLawIndia@barandbench pic.twitter.com/Kk0lpfZr5m— Prasoon (@prasoonie) December 20, 2019
“We undersigned law students of the National Law University Odisha, Cuttack with utmost respect for solidarity issues for our fellow colleagues, but also as proud Indian citizens and having prudently read, understood and reasonably being able to perceive the purpose voice our unequivocal support for the Citizenship Amendment Act,” the statement released by the signatories said.
The NLUO students also condemned the “premeditated violent protests” and “destruction of public property” by motivated sections in the aftermath of the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
It further read that the enactment of the CAA Act is in no way discriminatory against a particular community and found on an intelligible differentia under the Article 14 of the Indian Constitution and will seek the objective of protecting and preserving the persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring countries.
In a scathing attack against the CAA protestors, the letter rubbished the critiques of the CAA Act saying, “The detractors of the CAA must remember that everything that does not fit the particular ideology of a particular clique, is not unconstitutional”.
”We, therefore, appeal the cynics and pathological naysayers to uphold their democratic right to protest and not misuse their freedom. The legitimacy and sanctuary of the protests shall be maintained but no rational person opposes peaceful protests. Stone pelting and arson can never be considered as forms of protests, encouraging such acts must be condemned,” it read.
Earlier, the premier students’ body DSSF of the TISS institute had come forward voicing their support for the newly legislated Citizenship Amendment Act.
The enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Bill had triggered a series of violent protests in some pockets of the country. The protests which were deemed ‘peaceful’ by many saw violence, arson and acts of vandalism, committed by the demonstrators, especially in Delhi and West Bengal.
