Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday called for a peaceful march to be taken out on Sunday to protest the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying had the CMs of BJP-led states appealed for a peaceful protest, the violence seen on the streets would not have been there.

The CM called for a peaceful march on Sunday against the controversial measure. The Congress Chief Minister said, "We want to protest against this draconian Act, but then we want to protest peacefully. There is no place for violence in this protest and those indulging in violence will be identified and dealt with strictly in Rajasthan," he said, adding people should be be aware of anti-social elements who might try to disturb peace.

Speaking to media, he said BJP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should have been the first to appeal for a peaceful march. "Why couldn't he? Not a single person would have died in protests had he made the appeal, but it seems the BJP wants to divide the nation," he said.

He asked the government to repeal the Act, accept mistake and announce to walk along with people. "This will save democracy," he said.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were acting like fascists and want to impose the NRC (National Register of Citizens), which is not possible.

"In Assam, the state government has already spent thousands of crores on NRC, but it is yet to be implemented. Surprisingly, out of over 19 lakh people identified as migrants under NRC, 16 lakh were Hindus", he said.

The Centre created doubts about CAA and implemented it by instilling fear among people without engaging in debate with opposition parties. "Eventually students came out on streets," he said. "Even America was forced to say what is happening in India".

Answering a query on Union minster Gajendra Singh Shekhawat's remark during a BJP rally on Friday that if the state government does not give powers to the district collectors to grant citizenship to migrants, the government would delegate powers to IT and customs officials. "Imagine a Central minister speaking like this. This underlines his inexperience," he commented.