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Shortly after the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution by voice vote against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday, 17 January, said his government will approach the Supreme Court on the issue, as Kerala has done.
Terming the "divisive" Act and NRC as a tragedy, he said, "Where will the poor go and from where will they procure their birth certificates... this is a great tragedy. And I am very sorry to say... I wish I was not here when this is happening to my country where we are going to be in a situation where brotherhood is being broken for politics."
The Kerala Assembly was the first to pass the resolution and move Supreme Court against the amended Citizenship Act.
He said the Centre will have to make the necessary amendments to the CAA if it has to be implemented in Punjab and other states opposing the legislation.
"Like Kerala, our government will also approach the Supreme Court on the issue," Singh told reporters in an informal chat outside the state Assembly.
While the ruling Congress and main opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supported the resolution, the BJP opposed it.
The SAD sought inclusion of Muslims in the list of communities that could be granted citizenship under the amended law.
After a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 14 January, Amarinder Singh’s colleagues in the ministry had expressed concern over the implications of the "blatantly unconstitutional and divisive CAA, NRC and NPR."
Singh had said neither he nor the Congress were against granting citizenship to minorities persecuted on the basis of religion but they were completely opposed to the "discrimination in the CAA against certain religious communities, including Muslims".
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