Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday termed the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens as "weapons of mass polarisation" unleashed by fascists on India and said the best defence against them is peaceful satyagraha.

Gandhi said he stands in solidarity with those protesting peacefully against them.

"The CAB and NRC are weapons of mass polarisation unleashed by fascists on India. The best defence against these dirty weapons is peaceful, non violent Satyagraha. I stand in solidarity with all those protesting peacefully against the CAB and NRC," he said on Twitter.

The CAB & NRC are weapons of mass polarisation unleashed by fascists on India. The best defence against these dirty weapons is peaceful, non violent Satyagraha. I stand in solidarity with all those protesting peacefully against the CAB & NRC.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 16, 2019

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear on December 18 pleas of the Congress and former Maharaja of Tripura Pradyot Kishor Deb Barman challenging constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said it will hear the pleas along with other pending matters coming up for hearing on December 18.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned for urgent listing the two pleas and said this petition should also be heard along with a similar plea filed by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which is coming up for hearing on Wednesday.

-with inputs from PTI