New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, took on opposition leaders Asaduddin Owaisi and Mamata Banerjee for their claims that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was anti-Muslim and said that the law can’t be seen in isolation as it carries a history with itself.
Owaisi had referred to the law as anti-Muslim and said that since it was based on religion it can’t be formulated in the country, while Mamata Banerjee questioned the government claiming that it has eliminated the entire Muslim community like those who have come from Bangladesh from this.
“This is not a poitical game for the Bharatiya Janata Party. For our leader PM Modi ji and our government it is our duty to give adequate rights to those persecuted minorties from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who were living like refugees in India. It is a question of giving them rights that have eluded them for three generations and empathising with their pain” the Home Minister said.
Amit Shah also assured the Muslim community that the CAA does not in any way take away their rights as was being alleged by the opposition.
“I said this nearly 41 times in the recent times that the minorities in India need not worry as there is no provision to take away anyone’s citizenship. It only gurantees citizenship for persecuted minorties of Hindu, Skih, BUdhist, Christian and Parsi denomination” Amit Shah said.
“The opposition has no other work than to criticise us, they even questioned the surgical strikes and said we sought political mileage from them. Should we have not acted against terrorism. They also called the abbrogation of 370 a political motive. It is our record that what we promise we deliver, every guarantee that Modi ji has given has come true” the Home Minister added.
The Home Minister also spoke of the history of partition and why this law could not be viewed in isolation.
“Do not view this law in isolation. On August 15, 1947 the country was divided into three parts. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh and the BJP alway opposed partition on the basis of religion. And those who were minortities in those countries became victims of sever oppression. They were forced to convert, their women were assualted and because of that they came to seek refuge in India. Are these people not eligible for Indian citizenshp. At the time of partition the leaders of the Congress said that people should not leave their places as there was violence and later they will be given citizenship in India. Now the Congress has forgotten that for its vote bank politics” the Home Minister said.
Amit Shah said it was the moral duty of the government to give citizenship and protection to minorties undergoing persecution.
“Those people who were living in undivided Indian and then underwent persecution for following their faith we must offer them citizenship. It is our moral duty. You can look at the statistics and see the drop in the Hindu population in Pakistan since independence. These people were persecuted, so where should they go, should not the political parties think about that. In Afghansistan there ar only about 500 or so Hinus left, don’t these people have a right live with their beliefs. They were all our brothers in undiveded India” the Home Minister said.
Further, when asked about Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray’s allegations of CAA being implemented to hide the failure of the BJP government, Shah, in a staunch reply, sought clarification of the former’s stand on CAA.
“I want a clear clarification from Uddhav Thackeray in front of the people of the nation and Maharashtra, whether he wants CAA or not. Now he wants the votes of minorities that is why he is doing politics of appeasement and we are not. Our stand is clear from day one” the Home Minister said.
On March 11, the Union Home Ministry notified rules for the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled.
CAA aims to provide Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants – including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians – who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
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