- Thursday, May 16, 2024
He mocked the opposition alliance that said that CAA will be repealed if it came to power, saying there was little chance of it winning the next general election.
By: Shubham Ghosh
DAYS after India’s Narendra Modi government notified about the implementation of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and a number of opposition-governed states of the country protested against it accusing Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of indulging in narrow vote-bank politics, home minister Amit Shah asserted that there was no question of rolling back the decision.
According to a report by Asian News International, Shah said it is India’s sovereign right to ensure Indian citizenship on its soil.
“We will never compromise on it and CAA will never be taken back,” he said.
When asked about the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and specifically a leader of the Indian National Congress, the country’s main opposition party and a member of the alliance, saying that they would repeal the law if voted to power in this year’s election, Shah said the opposition are aware that they have little chance of coming to power.
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“Even the INDI Alliance knows that it will not come into power. CAA has been brought by the BJP and the Narendra Modi-led government. It is impossible to repeal it. We will spread awareness about it in the whole nation so that those who want to repeal it do not get a place,” the home minister said.
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Modi and his BJP-led National Democratic Alliance have won overwhelmingly won two successive general elections in 2014 and 2019 and are confident of winning the third this year to extend their stay in office.
Shah also dismissed criticism that the “CAA is unconstitutional”, stating that it does not violate the constitutional provisions.
“They always talk about Article 14. They forget that there are two clauses in that Article. This law does not violate Article 14. There is a clear, reasonable classification here. This is a law for those who, due to partition, remained in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and were facing religious persecution and decided to come to India,” the Indian minister said.
Replying to the Opposition’s claim of the timing of the notification coming ahead of the general elections due soon, Shah said, “First of all, I will talk about the timing. All opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, and Arvind Kejriwal, are doing jhooth ki rajneeti (politics of lies). So the question of timing does not arise.
“The BJP made it clear in its 2019 manifesto that it will bring CAA and provide Indian citizenship to refugees (from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan). It has a clear agenda and under that promise, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament in 2019. It got delayed due to Covid. The BJP cleared its agenda well before it got its mandate in the polls.”
“Rules are now a formality. There is no question of timing, political gain, or loss. Now, the opposition wants to consolidate their vote bank by doing appeasement politics… They have been exposed. CAA is the law for the entire country and I have reiterated nearly 41 times in four years that it will become a reality,” he said.
Shah also said that there is no question of political gain as the BJP’s main aim is to provide rights and justice to persecuted minorities coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.
Assuring the minorities in India, especially the Muslims, who many fear would face consequences after the implementation of the CAA, Shah said there was no reason to feel worried.
“I have spoken on CAA at least 41 times on different platforms and spoken on it in detail that the minorities of the country need not be afraid because it has no provision to take back the rights of any citizen. The CAA aims to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians – who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014. Through this law, their sufferings can end,” he added.
