In a meet with party leaders at Sena Bhavan, Thackeray said he will not allow any detention centre to come in the state under his watch
MUMBAI| On Monday Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray assured Muslim delegations that the amendments to the Citizenship Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens will not be implemented in the state, The Hindu reported. He denied the possibility of building detention centres in Maharashtra.
On Monday Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met two delegations of Muslim politicians and clerics and told them the community should not fear being asked to leave the state. “The chief minister assured that no decision has been taken regarding the CAA or the NRC in Maharashtra,” South Mumbai MLA Amin Patel, who was present at the meeting, said. “Even if it is ever implemented, the government will ensure Muslims are made part of it, he told us.”
“Several misunderstandings are being spread about detention camps. That is a system is for foreign nationals who have served their sentence for the cases related to drugs or other. These foreign nationals are kept in detention camps during the time till they complete their documentation process for deportation. So, there is no need to fear about it,” The Indian Express quoted Thackeray.
Referring to the NRC, Thackeray said there had been no decision on it, and if it all such a law comes, “it will not be only for Muslims, but for all religions”. On the Citizenship Amendment Act, he said, “There is an atmosphere of unrest and fear in the country. We must make efforts to ensure the state’s reputation and tradition of being peaceful. Nobody’s rights will be taken away. The government is strong enough to protect the rights of citizens of all religions.”
Mumbai Mirror reported CM Uddhav Thackeray also scrapped Devendra Fadnavis’s decision to develop the state’s first detention centre for illegal immigrants in Navi Mumbai’s Nerul. In a meet with party leaders at Sena Bhavan, Thackeray said he will not allow any detention centre to come in the state under his watch.
Devendra Fadnavis permitted the piece of land in Nerul, Navi Mumbai for detention center in the state. State’s first detention centre under the government of Fadnavis. The site where the Fadnavis government had proposed to start a detention centre currently lies vacant. It previously housed the Navi Mumbai Police’s Women Welfare Centre. The building was identified after the home department wrote to CIDCO seeking a 3-acre plot for the detention centre.
Home Minister Eknath Shinde, Industry Minister Subhash Desai, and Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Barve were also present at the meeting. Uddhav Thackeray said a lot of misinformation amongst the citizen and following the rumors on the detention centre about a coming up near Mumbai.
Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, who is part of the state Cabinet, tweeted: “Citizenship Amendment Act is divisive in nature. We will not implement it in Maharashtra.”
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Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens have engulfed India in the past two weeks. The protests saw peaceful marches as well as intense clashes between the police and the demonstrators. At least 24 people have died so far.
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